“National disgrace”: UK pediatrics fed up with distressing levels of sugar and salt in baby foods

02 Jan 2023 — The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) is urging the UK government to finally implement mandatory guidelines on the amount of sugar and salt that baby food can contain amid reports of alarming amounts in everyday products. 

In 2016, the government challenged the food industry to reduce the overall sugar content of certain food categories by 20% by 2020, but baby and toddler foods were not included in this program. Instead, it released draft commercial baby food and drink guidelines for consultation in 2020, which “have not been seen since,” the RCPCH says.