Health chiefs are being urged to develop front-of-pack labelling guidelines for food aimed at the under-fives by a leading supplier that hasn’t ruled out developing its own labelling system.
Little Dish, which sells products such as ready meals and filled pasta, has questioned why the front-of-pack nutritional labelling announced by the government last week made no provision for children. “Obesity is very clearly linked to what children eat at an early age, and this did nothing to address the issues of the future generation,” said Little Dish co-founder Hillary Graves.
The new system uses the EU-dictated Reference Intakes (RI) to guide consumers on recommended levels rather than GDAs, which have been widely used since 1998. Like GDAs, the system makes no provision for babies or toddlers.
Graves has commissioned research to look at labelling options specific to the under-fives. The work is being carried out by Vanessa Hattersley - former head of nutrition at Asda and Innocent.
“We would like to see the government prioritise suitable front-of-pack labelling guidelines for under-fives and to see these adopted by food manufacturers including ourselves,” said Graves.
However, other leading players in babies’ and toddlers’ food said it would be difficult to develop such labelling. “There’s a risk a simple labelling system could be misleading,” said Ella’s Kitchen founder Paul Lindley. “I feel the key is to educate parents about food and ingredients.”
The view was echoed by the founder of ready meals and sauces brand Annabel Karmel. “Schools have a role to play - it is important to educate our children on the right foods to eat,” said Karmel.
Graves conceded it would be a challenge develop an all-inclusive system, but added: “Adult guidelines are not an adequate solution.”
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