PSA: Read your LO's food labels!

[musicalsilver]

The Journal of Pediatrics just published an article saying that a disturbing number of dinners/snacks marketed for toddlers have high amounts of sodium/added sugars.

Over 70% of dinners they looked at had high sodium, and a third of dinners/snacks/cereal bars have one or more source of added sugar.

Here's the link to the abstract if you're interested in reading a little more, but basically - read food labels!

pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2015/01/28/peds.2014-3251.abstract

Edited to fix the sugar comment.

[cl8badb]

Im a nut when it comes to sodium bc high blood pressure and heart problems run in my family.
I didnt realize that more than 1 gram of sugar was considered bad. Im going to have to check my labels.

My problem is that a lot of the things that contain fruit don't separate natural sugar from added sugar so how would i know the difference?

[sympkin]

Feb 3, 2015 10:53:48 GMT -5 cl8badb said:

My problem is that a lot of the things that contain fruit don't separate natural sugar from added sugar so how would i know the difference?

Which is exactly why some juice companies *coughOceanSpraycough* are fighting against labelling that would clearly state the amount of added sugar.

[cl8badb]

Feb 3, 2015 10:58:41 GMT -5 sympkin said:

Feb 3, 2015 10:53:48 GMT -5 cl8badb said:

My problem is that a lot of the things that contain fruit don't separate natural sugar from added sugar so how would i know the difference?

Which is exactly why some juice companies *coughOceanSpraycough* are fighting against labelling that would clearly state the amount of added sugar.

Thats BS. They should all separate it. I guess i need to stick to the "no sugar added" items!

[sympkin]

A few years ago Gerber actually won something called the "Salt Lick" award for their prepared toddler meals. I've largely avoided most things beyond the most basic fruit/veggie puree combos for that exact reason.

[cl8badb]

Feb 3, 2015 11:02:29 GMT -5 sympkin said:

A few years ago Gerber actually won something called the "Salt Lick" award for their prepared toddler meals. I've largely avoided most things beyond the most basic fruit/veggie puree combos for that exact reason.

I dont buy the toddler meals either. I feel like most ready to eat meals contain a large amount of sodium bc it helps to preserve them.
I have some cereal bars and oatmeal that i need to check when i go upstairs though.

[musicalsilver]

Feb 3, 2015 10:53:48 GMT -5 cl8badb said:

Im a nut when it comes to sodium bc high blood pressure and heart problems run in my family.
I didnt realize that more than 1 gram of sugar was considered bad. Im going to have to check my labels.

My problem is that a lot of the things that contain fruit don't separate natural sugar from added sugar so how would i know the difference?

I misspoke about the gram.  It's actually just about more than 1 source of added sugars.  Here's text from the article clarifying:

"In addition, we identified whether a product may be of concern because it contained added sugars.  Ingredients qualifying as added sugars were identified by using lists from the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010, and USDA’s MyPlate recommendations and included sugar, sweetener, syrup, corn syrup, high-fructose corn syrup, honey, fructose,
malt, maltose, molasses, dextrose, glucose, lactose, sucrose, turbinado, and trehalose. As other studies have
done, the present study included “juice concentrate" or “cane” (juice, syrup, or sugar) as sources of added sugars.

If a food product included 1 source of added sugars (as identified earlier) in the ingredients list, it was categorized as including added sugars. Products with at least 1 source of added sugars and 35% of total calories from sugar were also
examined."

[musicalsilver]

So cl8badb - it looks like if you use the list that I quoted above in looking at the ingredients list, you can determine if there's added sugar.

[momofcatan]

Feb 3, 2015 11:06:04 GMT -5 cl8badb said:

I dont buy the toddler meals either. I feel like most ready to eat meals contain a large amount of sodium bc it helps to preserve them.
I have some cereal bars and oatmeal that i need to check when i go upstairs though.

Not a scientist, but I'm pretty sure lots of salt is all about taste and nothing to do with preserving.

[cl8badb]

Feb 3, 2015 11:27:16 GMT -5 momofcatan said:

Feb 3, 2015 11:06:04 GMT -5 cl8badb said:

I dont buy the toddler meals either. I feel like most ready to eat meals contain a large amount of sodium bc it helps to preserve them.
I have some cereal bars and oatmeal that i need to check when i go upstairs though.

Not a scientist, but I'm pretty sure lots of salt is all about taste and nothing to do with preserving.

chemistry.about.com/od/foodcookingchemistry/f/Why-Does-Salt-Work-As-A-Preservative.htm

[momofcatan]

Personally I think moderation is more important. DD (and DH and I) eat processed foods, and some of them probably have lots of added sugars and a fair share of salt. But these are treats and as long as we aren't having prepackaged meals every night for dinner I'm not going to go nuts raiding my pantry.

I guess it's also a blessing that most prepared meals are inaccessible for me because of keeping kosher, so we are forced to make a lot more of our food from scratch.

In my local mom FB group someone posted "my daughter loves cheerios, but OMG I just realized there's SUGAR in them, what should I do!?!?!". Big eye roll over here.

[momofcatan]

Feb 3, 2015 11:36:02 GMT -5 mcbush said:

Feb 3, 2015 11:02:06 GMT -5 cl8badb said:

Thats BS. They should all separate it. I guess i need to stick to the "no sugar added" items!

Yeah except sometimes that means they use artificial sweetener instead.

I'll be the first to admit that I don't do a lot of research on this, but I prefer actual sugar/fruit juices etc to artificial sweeteners if its for my toddler.

[cl8badb]

Feb 3, 2015 11:36:02 GMT -5 mcbush said:

Feb 3, 2015 11:02:06 GMT -5 cl8badb said:

Thats BS. They should all separate it. I guess i need to stick to the "no sugar added" items!

Yeah except sometimes that means they use artificial sweetener instead.

Uggg i HATE artificial sweeteners! I always check for those.

[cl8badb]

Feb 3, 2015 11:38:23 GMT -5 momofcatan said:

Feb 3, 2015 11:36:02 GMT -5 mcbush said:

Yeah except sometimes that means they use artificial sweetener instead.

I'll be the first to admit that I don't do a lot of research on this, but I prefer actual sugar/fruit juices etc to artificial sweeteners if its for my toddler.

I prefer them for myself too! Haha
ETA i mean i prefer the real stuff. I am vey anti artificial sweetners.

Back in the day trident gum actually said "this product contains (fake sweetner name) which is known to cause cancer in laboratory animals". Theyve changed the label to just say "contains (artificial sweetner name)". I guess they decided that if they dont have to say "cancer" theyd leave it out. Its bad for business. Eyeroll.

[momofcatan]

I guess I felt like playing devils advocate because I find it strange that people would assume something's healthy just because its marketed for a toddler. I've never made that assumption and scan the ingredients/nutritional info of most things I buy for DD. Do I still buy it if it has some sugar or salt? Yup, but I also put a lot things back on the shelf because they aren't what they appear to be.

[cl8badb]

Feb 3, 2015 11:45:43 GMT -5 momofcatan said:

I guess I felt like playing devils advocate because I find it strange that people would assume something's healthy just because its marketed for a toddler. I've never made that assumption and scan the ingredients/nutritional info of most things I buy for DD. Do I still buy it if it has some sugar or salt? Yup, but I also put a lot things back on the shelf because they aren't what they appear to be.

I agree!
I got him the plum organics jammy sammy fruit bars. They have TEN grams of sugar in each one. I only give him 1 as a special treat and its very rare so im not worried.

[pkp2]

I'll confess I've never bought a prepackaged 'toddler meal' for P because of all the added stuff in a lot of them. Even the pouches, I made sure to buy the ones with just fruit and veggies in them. Don't get me wrong, he does get some sweets and junk food, like chips and a bite of cupcake or something. But I try to keep it around a couple of bites. Most of his meals I cook and are just baked chicken with seasonings (not salt though) and veggies. Fortunately, he's not too picky.

[melohdy]

How do we feel about dried fruit? Lilly likes these organic fruit leathers we buy. I would have to look again but I don't think they have added sugar but they do have a significant amount of natural sugars.

She also loves raisins.

We try to limit but some days it seems that it's all she will eat.

[sympkin]

Feb 3, 2015 11:45:43 GMT -5 momofcatan said:

I guess I felt like playing devils advocate because I find it strange that people would assume something's healthy just because its marketed for a toddler. I've never made that assumption and scan the ingredients/nutritional info of most things I buy for DD. Do I still buy it if it has some sugar or salt? Yup, but I also put a lot things back on the shelf because they aren't what they appear to be.

Well I think the problem is that people assume something is healthy because it is marketed as healthy. They are plastered with health slogans like "no preservatives" and "made with whole grains" and so on and so forth. 

I mean, this isn't just a toddler food problem, (Hi chocolate milk marketers!) but making a food seem like a better nutrition choice than it actually is is almost step one for anything in the prepared food market. They fully take advantage of the fact that a lot of people want their grocery shopping done quick and easy without examining every label.

[musicalsilver]

Feb 3, 2015 12:07:15 GMT -5 melohdy said:

How do we feel about dried fruit? Lilly likes these organic fruit leathers we buy. I would have to look again but I don't think they have added sugar but they do have a significant amount of natural sugars.

She also loves raisins.

We try to limit but some days it seems that it's all she will eat.

I treat dried fruit like I treat any other fruit.  Since LO doesn't eat a lot of vegetables, I let him go pretty hog wild with fruit.  The dried fruit we buy doesn't have added sugars, and obviously has plenty of natural sugars. 

We offer plenty of healthy choices, but if LO chooses just to eat raisins, well, I'm sure it'll balance out another day.

[momofcatan]

Feb 3, 2015 12:08:53 GMT -5 sympkin said:

Feb 3, 2015 11:45:43 GMT -5 momofcatan said:

I guess I felt like playing devils advocate because I find it strange that people would assume something's healthy just because its marketed for a toddler. I've never made that assumption and scan the ingredients/nutritional info of most things I buy for DD. Do I still buy it if it has some sugar or salt? Yup, but I also put a lot things back on the shelf because they aren't what they appear to be.

Well I think the problem is that people assume something is healthy because it is marketed as healthy. They are plastered with health slogans like "no preservatives" and "made with whole grains" and so on and so forth. 

I mean, this isn't just a toddler food problem, (Hi chocolate milk marketers!) but making a food seem like a better nutrition choice than it actually is is almost step one for anything in the prepared food market. They fully take advantage of the fact that a lot of people want their grocery shopping done quick and easy without examining every label.

I bugs me that people can't see through the marketing.

Maybe its because I kind of work in marketing, but the first thing I do side-eye healthy claims.

[kittengator]

melohdy as long as you have that oh so relevant picture in your signature, I will love tit every one of your posts I come across.

[graceinca]

This is why I am glad I got my daughter hooked on plain yogurt. My son still prefers the flavored ones, but the amount of sugar in them is staggering. Even if some of the sugar is from a naturally derived source, like the actual fruit mixed into the yogurt, you're really only getting the juice of the fruit with very little of the fiber or other nutrients by the time it's boiled into whatever they put into yogurt. Plus added sugar. Sugar is the 2nd or 3rd ingredient in the yobaby yogurts. No thank you. I feel like American kids have a messed up palate because of all of the salt and sugar they're used to consuming.

[daffy2k]

Feb 3, 2015 12:51:09 GMT -5 graceinca said:

This is why I am glad I got my daughter hooked on plain yogurt. My son still prefers the flavored ones, but the amount of sugar in them is staggering. Even if some of the sugar is from a naturally derived source, like the actual fruit mixed into the yogurt, you're really only getting the juice of the fruit with very little of the fiber or other nutrients by the time it's boiled into whatever they put into yogurt. Plus added sugar. Sugar is the 2nd or 3rd ingredient in the yobaby yogurts. No thank you. I feel like American kids have a messed up palate because of all of the salt and sugar they're used to consuming.

I started giving madeline plain yogurt mixed with fresh fruit when we were in the States for a month last spring.  At home we had 1 kids yogurt option that didn't have added sugar (it still wasn't as good as plain, but the label read much better than most), but I could not for the life of me find anything even comparable at either of the grocery stores near my parents house.  I was really shocked how much sugar was in something being marketed for toddlers.  Since then she's been hooked on the plain stuff so we just stuck with it.

[kh59]

I didn't know there were packaged toddler meals. I just googled them. (Ew.) I am not shocked that a tiny TV dinner that says it's great for "learning to use a spoon" is full of nutritional bullshit that matches the label's rhetorical bullshit. I guess I wouldn't expect the prepared food industry to be any more inclined to avoid unhealthy ingredients in food for kids than they are in food for adults. But the whole notion of "toddler food" as opposed to, you know, "food," still kind of confuses me.

[kh59]

Feb 3, 2015 12:51:09 GMT -5 graceinca said:

This is why I am glad I got my daughter hooked on plain yogurt. My son still prefers the flavored ones, but the amount of sugar in them is staggering. Even if some of the sugar is from a naturally derived source, like the actual fruit mixed into the yogurt, you're really only getting the juice of the fruit with very little of the fiber or other nutrients by the time it's boiled into whatever they put into yogurt. Plus added sugar. Sugar is the 2nd or 3rd ingredient in the yobaby yogurts. No thank you. I feel like American kids have a messed up palate because of all of the salt and sugar they're used to consuming.

I love my grocery place's store brand for most things, but even their organic "plain" yogurt has added sugar.  I learned this the hard way by putting a big scoop on a plate of Indian-style lentils before I tasted it.  I read a lot of yogurt labels after that.