Baby food market overlooks nutritional needs to make sales, says UK infant nutrition brand

18 May 2020 --- Mainstream baby food brands in the UK may be misleading parents to buy baby food products that are high in fruit sugars, but actually contain very little to no vegetables at all, despite focalizing both equally on front-of-pack. This is according to UK baby food company Little Tummy that highlights sugar-rich infant foods can influence babies’ taste profile and consequently parents’ purchasing behavior. As consumers become more aware of how healthy nutrition in early life can help prevent health complications in the long run, the nutrition industry is tasked with providing busy parents with transparent, healthy and convenient baby food meals.

“The first 1,000 days of a child’s life are a unique opportunity to set up healthy habits for a lifetime. Children should get used to bitter flavors from early on and getting babies used to sweet flavors and sugary snacks will achieve the opposite effect. As providers of convenient meals, we have to make it easier for parents to make healthier choices for their children,” Dr. Sophie Niedermaier-Patramani, Pediatrician and Co-Founder of Little Tummy, tells NutritionInsight.

She underscores that many commercially available baby foods use unnecessary amounts of sugar, potentially leading to babies quickly developing a taste for the products, which leads to repeat purchase. “This is actually doing a disservice to parents who believe they are making healthy choices for their children.”

Getting babies used to bitter flavors is also not easy, Dr. Niedermaier-Patramani continues, noting that it can take up to ten trials until a baby accepts a new flavor. However, once children are used to bitter flavors, they tend to show no aversion to this flavor profile even throughout their years of picky eating, when they are around three to five years old, she adds.

“This is why parents need more support and convenient solutions. Not having to prepare meals rich in flavor and healthy ingredients will make it easier for parents to set up healthy habits during a time where sleep-deprivation and the burden of multitasking is taking a toll on parents. Little Tummy meals are directed toward all parents, especially those who spend a lot of time preparing meals for their children as they have lost trust in incumbent baby food companies,” she explains. 

Little Tummy still uses minimal heat pressure on ingredients such as sweet potatoes to make them more easily digestible.Innova Market Insights highlights that baby formula remains the top sub-category in the infant nutrition sector, but snacks are indeed on the rise. Likewise, infant nutrition is also seeing an increase of high/source of protein and fiber claims.

Cold versus heat pressing
Addressing these concerns, Little Tummy provides cold-pressed baby food containing organic ingredients in convenient meal-sized portions for busy parents. Cold-pressing, or High Pressure Processing (HPP), destroys potential food-borne bacteria while naturally extending shelf life, but only by a few weeks. Heat-pressing, on the other hand, extends shelf-life longer but also results in a watery puree that lacks fresh taste, texture or color. It can also expose babies’ teeth to free sugars and might lead to tooth decay.

“When we started our collaboration with our manufacturer, we had to agree on a production method that uses as little heat as possible as we wanted to preserve all the vitamins and micronutrients. We still had to use minimal heat for some of the ingredients to softly steam them and make them more easily digestible, such as kale and sweet potatoes,” says Dr. Niedermaier-Patramani.

The Little Tummy Co-Founder predicts HPP to be “where the future of baby food is headed.” Nevertheless, she also notes it is currently “almost impossible” for baby food producers to turn around their factories in such a short period. This is considering Little Tummy’s products need to be refrigerated and the company had to build up a chilled supply chain to transport goods. 

Parents influenced by F&B marketing 
Targeted advertising can dramatically influence consumers’ purchasing behavior and boost marketing companies’ sales. To satiate consumer concerns for inadequate nutritional content labeling, Unilever announced earlier this year that it would cease to directly target children in its food and beverage marketing and advertising across the globe by the end of 2020.

Worrisome children’s nutrition advertising has also been witnessed in television commercials. Last November, a Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) report found that 99 percent of all the food and beverage ads captured in the analysis were for unhealthy food products. TV ads can also influence children positively, as Dutch researchers found in a study earlier this year. They highlighted that children are nearly three times more likely to make a positive food choice after watching a child-oriented cooking television show that featured healthy offerings. 

In the spirit of healthy early nutrition, Little Tummy is working on more recipes to offer a wider variety of meals to its customers. Preparing for a new product range in mid-2020, Little Tummy’s baby meals will soon be available in UK retailers. 

By Anni Schleicher, with additional reporting from Katherine Durrell