Commercial Baby Foods: Nutrition, Marketing and Motivations for Use-A Narrative Review

Abstract

A growing body of research on commercial baby foods (CBFs) has reported nutritional composition, marketing, and labelling concerns. We aimed to review and consolidate the evidence on CBFs marketed for children 0-36 months in the UK, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand to inform UK policy by highlighting key issues with the current retail offer. A systematic search conducted on PubMed and Web of Science on three topics: (1) Nutritional Composition, Flavour Profile and Texture, (2) Marketing and Labelling, and (3) Parental Choice and Preferences. Studies on CBFs were included if conducted in English in specified countries, age, and published between 2019 and 2024. Out of 3143 studies screened, 31 full papers were separated into three topics and reviewed. Topic 1: Out of all products sampled, 56% were puréed and 18% were snacks. The median sugar content per 100 g (IQR) were 10.4 g (1.0) in purées, 20.3 g (9.9) in snacks, and 14.7 g (14.4) in cereals. Nearly half of all products contained added or free sugars (n = 13 studies), and 62% when looking at snacks alone (n = 6 studies). Topic 2: Six out of 9 studies had 'no added sugar' claims, and eight studies reported finding claims related to health or nutrition. Topic 3: All studies reported that health/development/nutrition were motivations to purchase CBFs, and 75% mentioned 'baby's enjoyment', 'convenience/time', and 'safety'. Purées and snacks dominate the CBF market and are often high in sugars. Marketing claims are misleading and exploit parents' fears to motivate use.

Keywords: commercial baby food; early years nutrition; food claims; food labelling marketing.

FIGURE 1

Study selection flow chart.