Too much sugar for your sweet baby — a look at ready-made meals and food pouches

Ready-made foods and food pouches for infants are often high in sugar, watery, and much less nutritious than is claimed, and purées may hinder development of motor and chewing skills and also hand co-ordination

As much as 41% of meals for babies and toddlers has too much sugar.

Recent research from the University of Leeds found that 41% of meals marketed at toddlers and babies had too-high sugar levels.

Investigators at the university’s School of Food Science and Nutrition assessed 632 baby food products, evaluating their claimed ingredients and marketing, and found that 21% of ready-to-eat fruit products, cereals, and meals were too watery and didn’t provide adequate nutrition.

And a BBC Panorama investigation into baby food pouches found that some are worryingly low in essential vitamins and minerals, while others contain higher-than-recommended sugar levels.

The programme prompted much discussion online about ultra- processed foods (UPFs) for babies. TV presenter Jeremy Vine asked on Facebook if parents should stop feeding babies and toddlers readymade meals. But Caroline O’Connor, registered children’s dietitian, says not all UPFs are the same.

“The UPF definition doesn’t speak to the nutritional content of food, but rather to how processed it is,” O’Connor says. “Infant formula, for example, is ultra-processed, but obviously vital and life-saving for babies who can’t or won’t breastfeed. Similarly, Ready Brek and Weetabix — technically UPFs — are fortified and HSE-recommended as suitable for weaning.

“A more helpful question is, ‘What does this food offer my baby nutritionally?’, rather than simply whether it’s ultra-processed,” says O’Connor, founder of Solid Start, which helps parents to ‘no-stress feed’ their children.

O’Connor says a baby’s first 1,000 days (pregnancy to two years) are a time of rapid brain development, physical growth, and formation of eating habits that can last a  ifetime. “Children grow very quickly at this stage. By one year old, they’ve tripled their birth weight; by age two, they’ve quadrupled it.”

Jennifer Byrne, registered dietitian at Dublin Nutrition Centre, says adequate nutrition in the first 1,000 days builds strong immune systems and reduces risk for chronic diseases in adulthood.

Jennifer Byrne, registered dietitian at Dublin Nutrition Centre, says adequate nutrition in the first 1,000 days builds strong immune systems and reduces risk for chronic diseases in adulthood.

But while infants’ nutritional requirements are high, their appetites are small, so meeting their dietary needs is a challenge. “Babies have high nutritional needs, especially for iron, zinc, iodine, and healthy fats, so they need higher nutritional density in the food they eat,” says O’Connor.

While we don’t have Ireland- specific data on the extent to which UPFs form part of babies’ diets here, UK research shows that 32% of energy intake in children aged one to five years comes from UPFs, 44% of babies aged eight to 10 months are given ready-made food, while 34% of babies aged four to six months are given baby snacks. 

“From what I see in practice, pouches and packaged snacks are very commonly used in Ireland; they’re marketed as healthy and convenient, and often feel like a safe choice.”

But most parents O’Connor meets tell her they use pouches alongside homemade food, and also for convenience, as a stop-gap when out and about with their baby. “Yet, = you can see how much space these products get in supermarkets, [indicating] they’re widely used —they’re not niche.”

She says the key factor is how they are used and what they displace in babies’ diets. “Concerns include low levels of essential nutrients, like iron and vitamin C, as well as high free sugar content. Even when labelled ‘no added sugar’, many fruit pouches contain purées or concentrates, which are high in free sugars.”

When fruit is puréed industrially, and also heated, sugar is released from the framework of the fruit, O’Connor says: “These free sugars are absorbed quickly, affecting tooth health and encouraging preference for sweet flavours.”

Low on essential nutrients

Byrne says packets and jars of baby food can be low in protein and therefore in iron, which is required to transport oxygen around the body. “Iron plays a key role in brain development and in the immune system. 

And due to blending of fruit and veg, they’re also lower in fibre, which is important for promoting a diverse gut microbiome and preventing childhood constipation and other gut disorders.”

A 2021-published University College Dublin study analysed 148 infant snack foods for energy and nutrient content, recommended ages, and potential messages around marketing. 

Researchers found 12.2% were advertised as suitable for infants from four months, contradicting WHO recommendations that no solid foods be given to children before they are six months.

Use of baby food pouches is also problematic for weaning, which is important for building motor skills around how to eat: Hand-eye co-ordination involved in reaching for food and putting it in the mouth, building up chewing skills, learning how to move food around the mouth, and coping with different textures. 

“Babies need practice with lumps, mashed foods, and finger foods. A diet based only on smooth purées, whether pouch or homemade, limits this learning.”

It’s important that children develop appropriate oral motor skills and to do this they need exposure to a range of textures as weaning progresses. O’Connor says: “Pre-made pouches or jars, despite their different ‘stages’, are all uniform in texture. Over-relying on them may result in delayed development of oral motor skills, directly impacting the ability to eat certain foods, for example, chewier foods like meat, or mixed textures. This risks nutritional deficiencies and increased food fussiness.”

If lumpy, solid foods are not introduced until later in the first year, these foods are more likely to be refused, and the infant is likelier to have feeding problems during their second year of life. 

Caroline O'Connor: “Late introduction of lumpy, solid foods has also been linked to poorer fruit- and vegetable-acceptance in later childhood."

“Late introduction of lumpy, solid foods has also been linked to poorer fruit- and vegetable-acceptance in later childhood,” O’Connor says. O’Connor sees shop-bought finger foods for babies used a lot — puffs, wafers, veggie straws. “They come in all shapes and sizes. They’re defined as ‘bite and dissolve’ foods. Parents use them, feeling it’s a safe way to offer finger foods, especially if nervous about choking.”

While she sometimes recommends them as a starting finger food, if parents are very nervous, or if baby is struggling with weaning, she says they are generally not very nutritious. 

“Veggie puffs are just air. And rusks and biscotti can be high in sugar. And because they’re ‘bite and dissolve’, they don’t simulate proper finger food or [develop] required skills.”

O’Connor says weaning is an important time too for babies to learn to like food, for formation of food acceptance: “It’s at this stage they learn about the social aspect of eating, about participating in family meals.”

Watch for halo marketing

University of Leeds research also highlighted widespread use of ‘halo marketing’, or vague but misleading messaging that gives products an appearance of health, masking concerns about their actual composition. 

The authors gave examples: Stating ‘no added sugar’ when most of the calories are from sugar; claiming to be ‘nutritionally balanced’ (described as ‘meaningless’ by the researchers); claiming ‘immune support’ when a food contains some vitamin C; and claiming to be the ‘ideal’ way to feed your little one, which undermines simple, home-prepared foods.

Between misleading messaging and black-and-white thinking around UPFs, it is no surprise parents are confused. Byrne advises:

Use baby food pouches in moderation, as part of a diet that consists of other wholefoods and homemade meals.

If using, choose savoury versions over sweet ones. Pair fruit pouch with another protein or carbohydrate food — for example, yoghurt, porridge oats.

Choose pouches with protein content of more than 2.5g per 100g.

At earlier weaning stage, choose softer finger foods: Well-cooked veg, soft fruit, soft cheese, like mozzarella, hard-boiled egg. As oral motor skills develop, progress to harder finger foods: Toast, rice cakes with nut butter.

O’Connor recommends:

• Use pouches occasionally, choose low-sugar — less than 5g per 100g. Serve from bowl or spoon.
• Prioritise iron-rich and textured foods. Include babies in family meals with safe, adapted versions of what you are eating.

O’Connor says many parents see pouches as a way to give babies a varied diet with ingredients like quinoa or kale — things they do not cook themselves. “Babies don’t need fancy ingredients. Most do well with simple, everyday foods: Mashed potatoes, scrambled egg, soft fruit, lentils, toast fingers.”

She urges no guilt. “Many parents are trying their best with limited time and lots of conflicting information. It’s about balance, not all-or-nothing. Occasional use as part of a structured meal is very different from grazing on sweet pouches throughout the day.”