Premium
WHO warns of too sugary baby foods
The WHO called for the banning of added sugars and sweeteners in baby foods, and said labels on candies and sweetened beverages should state products are not suitable for children under three. PHOTO | FOTOSEARCH
What you need to know:
- The World Health Organization (WHO) examined nearly 8,000 products from more than 500 stores in Austria, Bulgaria, Israel and Hungary between November 2017 and January 2018.
- The WHO noted that while foods that naturally contain sugars, such as fruits and vegetables, can be appropriate in young child diets, "the very high levels of sugars present in commercial products is a cause for concern".
- Up to 60 percent of inspected food products were labelled as suitable for infants under six months old, contrary to WHO recommendations "that infants receive exclusively breast milk for the first six months of life", said the report.
- The WHO said it was updating its guidelines to help member countries adopt new legislation to curb high sugar intake.
COPENHAGEN,
Commercial baby foods often contain too much sugar and display confusing ingredient lists, according to a UN report that proposed new guidelines Monday to improve infant diets.
