Nestle cheating babies again – Gerber babies, that is

February 25th, 2010. By janem

Just about everyone knows that we have to watch our sodium intake. Recent studies report that most North Americans consume twice as much salt as they need and that leads to a host of health problems, such as kidney disease, stroke, heart disease and dementia. But what about baby? Most parents trust baby food like they trust their pediatrician, however, when it comes to Gerber products, baby beware.

According to the Canadian Stroke Network, a Gerber pasta meal—marketed for toddlers—contains the same amount of salt as two orders of McDonald’s fries. So the Stroke Network bestowed upon Gerber the “Salt Lick Award“, which is handed out annually to food items with extremely high levels of sodium. The Lil’ Entrees Chicken & Pasta Wheel Pick Ups meal contains 550 mg of salt—that’s more than half of the 1,000 mg of sodium a toddler needs to consume in one day.

In 2007 Gerber was sold to the Nestle Company for $5.5 billion. It makes more than 190 baby foods, sold in 80 countries. On its website, Gerber says it “doesn’t strain to make money. But it does strain to make its products.” So why doesn’t it strain out the salt? Because salt makes food taste better and baby likes the taste of salt-laden food and that spells more profits for Nestle.

Nestle isn’t straining to make money—it’s a no-brainer!

Remember the Nestle debacle years ago when it gave away powdered milk to new mothers in developing countries like India? Right after they gave birth? Well, their breast milk dried up so they had no choice but to buy Nestle formula. Seems that not much may have changed with Nestle’s conscience and moral standards since then…And with sodium levels as high as these, doesn’t it seem like calling their products ‘nutritious’ is a bit of false advertising?

Canada is taking action and the UK’s Food Standards Agency doesn’t allow salt in baby food. Where the heck is the FDA?

Way back in 1975, the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) pressured the FDA to disclose the percentage of ingredients on baby food labels. A year later, the agency agreed ” there is a potential for deception because the ingredient(s) listed in the name of infant and junior foods may appear to be present in greater amounts than is actually the case,” and it proposed to take action. Obviously, baby’s health wasn’t on their agenda.

The UK Food Standard Agency’s Salt Warning (eatwell.gov.uk):

Don’t add any salt to the foods you give your baby because a young baby’s kidneys can’t cope with it. Some foods, such as cheese, sausages and bacon, are high in salt, so remember to limit how much of these foods you let your baby eat.

Baby foods aren’t allowed to contain added salt. But any foods you buy that aren’t aimed at babies, especially sauces and ready-made porridge, can often be high in salt, so also limit how much of these you let your baby eat and remember to check the label.

It’s best not to encourage a liking for salt at any age, so when you’re cooking for the family, leave out the salt so your baby can share the food. This is healthier for the rest of the family too.

Most of the salt we eat comes from the food products we buy, so check food labels so you can compare products. Food labels often give figures for sodium rather than salt. Choose lower salt (or lower sodium) versions for your baby whenever you can. Babies under a year should have less than 1g salt per day, which is less than 0.4g sodium. You can use these figures as a guide when you’re checking food labels.

Tags: Baby Food, Gerber, Nestle, Sodium

This was posted on Thursday, February 25th, 2010 at 12:27 pm and is filed under Emerging Issues . Feel free to respond, or trackback. Read our comments policy.