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 DYK 72% of packaged baby food snacks in the UK make claims about baby-led weaning? But are packaged baby foods healthier than real foods? Can you believe the health claims on pouches and other processed baby foods? In this episode I’m joined by researcher Ada Lizbeth Garcia, PhD who studies the impact of misleading marketing claims on baby foods in the UK. 

Dr. Garcia is a researcher in Scotland who has looked at health claims, marketing claims and nutrient claims on foods that are packaged, processed and sold for babies to consume. In this episode we’re talking about terms you see on baby foods, like “ideal finger foods”, “encourages self feeding”, “perfect for small hands,” “great for your little”, “grab”...why there is no evidence to support these claims and the impact of such statements used in marketing of baby foods, including how this can impact breastfeeding rates and encourage early and unsafe introduction of solid foods in some cases.

SUMMARY OF EPISODE

In this episode we’re talking about:

• Why the lack of mandatory enforcement of marketing foods for babies and children leads to widespread confusion and invalid claims about health and nutrition

• How food and formula companies respond to research that highlights misleading claims and invalid statements about nutrition and health on their products

• What parents should look for if they are relying on commercial baby foods regarding nutrition and claims on the front of packs

LINKS FROM EPISODE

• Dr. Ada Garcia’s bio from the University of Glasgow

• World Health Organization (WHO) report “Improving the Nutritional Quality of Commercial Foods for Infants and Young Children” in the WHO European Region

• University of Glasgow Press Release, “Average of 9 Promotional Claims on Packaging of UK Baby Food Products”

• Dr. Garcia’s publication in Arch Dis Child “Extensive use of on-pack promotional claims on commercial baby foods in the UK”

• Yahoo News coverage, “Promotional claims on baby food can mislead parents, say researchers”

BABY-LED WEANING FOR BEGINNERS COURSE

If you’re looking for some ideas, I teach a FREE one hour video training called Baby-Led Weaning for Beginners and everyone on the training gets a free copy of the original 100 First Foods list! The list has ideas for fruits, vegetables, starches, proteins, and potential allergens for you to try with your baby.

So REGISTER for my free online workshop BABY-LED WEANING FOR BEGINNERS and get your copy of my 100 first foods list!

If you try new foods with your baby let me know! You can tag me on Instagram @babyledweanteam

TRANSCRIPT OF EPISODE

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• REGISTER for my free online workshop BABY-LED WEANING FOR BEGINNERS: How to get your baby to try 100 foods before turning 1 without you having to spoon-feed purees or buy pouches. Everyone on the workshop gets a copy of my 100 FIRST FOODS list so you’ll know exactly what foods babies CAN eat when they’re ready for BLW! Register for this week’s workshop times here.