Baby food not so ‘sweet as’?

"Children exposed to a high sugar diet at four months old — it's setting their palate up for sweetness." Dr Gerhard Sundborn FIZZ spokesman

Baby food with high sugar content is being marketed for babies as young as four months old — setting them up for dental decay and obesity, says a public health group FIZZ (Fighting Sugar in Soft drinks) New Zealand.

The advocacy group is calling for warning labels on fruit puree baby food with higher than 5 per cent sugar content.

In a letter to the New Zealand Medical Journal the group said excess sugar intake was a major cause of ill-health but high sugar diets were being promoted by food companies for a baby’s first foods.

The Ministry of Health and the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommended babies were breast-fed for the first six months of life and are then weaned to mainly non-sweet solid food, the authors said. FIZZ spokesman Dr Gerhard Sundborn said public health experts recommended an absolute maximum of 5 per cent of total calories from sugar for children. For babies this would be two teaspoons.

‘‘Children exposed to a high sugar diet at four months old — it’s setting their palate up for sweetness, it’s conditioning their palate at a very young age,’’ FIZZ spokesman Dr Gerhard Sundborn said.

High sugar baby food would result in unhealthy weight gain, dental decay and could affect their concentration and the ability to settle.

Commercial pureed fruit products had higher concentrations of sugar than homemade puree because liquid had been evaporated from the fruit, he said.

Most concerning was that Plunket, the leading national child health service, endorsed a range of high sugar Kraft-HeinzWatties fruit purees.

A 120g pouch of Kraft-HeinzWattie’s Apple, Peach and Mango fruit puree contained 16g of sugar, or four teaspoons, and was labelled as a single serve.

Of 33 single serve Kraft-HeinzWatties baby foods at an Auckland supermarket 22, or 66 per cent had more than two teaspoons of sugar, they found.

‘‘This [Plunket endorsement] is confusing and likely to mislead the New Zealand public and parents into thinking these products are healthy food items for their infants.’’

Heinz-Watties said it would not be ‘‘sensible’’ to have health warnings on their products as most fruit and some vegetables had naturally occurring sugar levels higher than 5g/100g.

‘‘Heinz Wattie’s supports healthy food choices for parents and goes out of its way to ensure the nutritional balance of its baby food range which includes fruit, vegetables, savoury meals, breakfast and dessert.’’

The company said it was proud of the long relationship with Plunket and had received advice on baby food products from independent nutrition experts.

Plunket spokeswoman Jen Riches said Plunket encouraged breast-feeding for the first six months in line with WHO guidelines. Plunket was keen to meet with FIZZ and discuss how they could work together, she said.

Heinz-Watties Infant Nutrition Advisory Group member, child nutritionist Dr Clare Wall said pureed fruit pouches were not intended to be eaten in one sitting but were recommended as a healthy part of a young child’s diet.

‘‘What parents do is they take out a couple of teaspoons and mix it with some baby rice or give it as a desert after the infant has had some savoury food.’’

She said babies were born with a preference for sweetness and breast milk had seven per cent sugar in lactose, Wall said.