to think advertising of baby pouches needs to be restricted?

[Pearl87]

Ella's Kitchen outright admit their product should only be used sparingly. A lot of parents use these pouches as the main source of their child's nutrition.

And? I don't. And I think it should be done more.

I think we should bring back shaming poor parenting.
People should be ashamed of their poor decisions and lack of thinking that they change.

I don't think calling people stupid helps. I think all people are vulnerable to advertising claims and it's arrogant to think that you're immune to them.

The problem is educating hasn't helped.
This is 2025.
Every single person has unlimited access to the Internet.

They have the ability to do basic research but choose to rot their brains instead.

That's not actually true.

In the UK and EU, any preservative or additive added at any stage — including to the concentrate — must legally be declared on the label.

I havent watched the show...I'm confused, what's the scandal exactly? The fact that people use pouches when weaning?

Or is it that people are using them when their children are over 1 year? Or pretty much JUST giving their kids pouches until their 1 and no home cooked food?

Well you can't research everything.

....we're not talking about the solution to global warming in an ever increasing consumerist society.

It's, again, the bare minimum.

But not everyone has the capacity to do independent research. I certainly didn't when mine were babies, I was knackered. I don't think it's unreasonable to assume that a product that's legally marketed as something for babies meals would be suitable.

They're advertised as 'no added sugar' while being very high in sugar.
The nutritional information on the packets is often incorrect.
The meal pouches are advertised as being 'balanced meals' while actually being very low in iron and vitamins and not being suitable as a meal replacement.

Ah right. I had a look at some of the pouches to try and make sense of it and the sugar content was actually very good. Maybe it's just random ones. Never understood the fruit pouches as they seem the same as fruit juices which you're advised to avoid.

I guess when you say incorrect, you mean misleading? Incorrect is illegal, I'm sure that's not the case, but marketing and keywords are important. A lot of people boil their veg not realising nutrients are lost that way, I'd love a comparison between pouches with veg vs just boiling. Maybe not much different.

Christ it's not "independent research" to spend half an hour reading the NHS guidance on weaning which clearly tells you to avoid salt and sugar and the advised sugar limits for babies.

That's all that's required. Then spend 30 seconds reading the nutritional information on the back of the packet when shopping. You only have to read it once, not every time you shop, next time you won't bother looking because you know it's crap.

@Dinosaurshoebox is right. Understanding what you should and shouldn't be feeding your baby to make sure they are healthy is the bare minimum.

If someone doesn't posses that capacity I'd question if they should be solely responsible for another's welfare

It’s not independent research it’s a quick google. People spend more than 30 min on SM looking at MN,retail,news they can incorporate a quick google about nutrition, pouches and nhs advice

I certainly wasn't in any mood to be reading labels while shopping when mine were that age. I find I'm only motivated to do extra research when I'm trying to solve a problem. I stand by what I say in that I don't think it's unreasonable for people to assume that these pouches are appropriate baby food that meet nutritional requirements.

I personally chose not to use them because they seemed like a waste of money to me.

Yes. They are sweet and smooth. So many people feed sweet before bitter like broccoli.

It can't be new news to people that feeding smooth sweet pouches (aa even veggies sweeten when broken down) leads to picky eating later on.

And there lies a lack of understanding about how sugar and fibre work In the body and how babies develop oral motor skills.

*can lead to picky eating. Doesn’t always (hasn’t in either of my kids)

If you think this means they are healthy you are deluded.

I didn't say they were healthy, I said that parents are being misled by the baby food companies into thinking that they are.

Anyone who has ever gone to weight watchers or slimming world (which I would wager is most women) will know that you can eat as much whole fruit as you want but once you blend it and start drinking fruit juice or smoothies it counts as sins or whatever because it's not food anymore it's just liquid sugar. This is basic public knowledge.

If large numbers of adults need to pay to attend weekly classes to learn this then it cannot be called "basic public knowledge".

It's public knowledge among most adults now, because there's an obesity crisis because we all grew up eating processed sugary shit!

People aren't at these groups because they don't know basic nutrition, they're at these groups because they need motivation/a handhold/an easy way of tracking what they're eating to lose weight. Everyone knows fruit juice is rubbish for you but we drink it because we like it.

The fact that people wean their bloody babies on it when they know it's rubbish blows my mind!

Also it wasn't you I replying to, another poster said that people saying these pouches are unhealthy are plain wrong because the ingredients are great and it's a balanced meal. I was showing them that that was rubbish.

I happen to have a packet of Ella's Caribbean Chicken in my cupboard (I don't generally feed my baby these so it must be leftover from last year's summer holiday). The packet clearly says that it is low in salt and sugar. Barely any sugar in there, definitely within the NHS sugar limits. High in protein. Bit of fibre. Absolutely nothing on the packet that contravenes NHS guidance. The nutritional issue with the savoury pouches is that babies specifically need iron from six months old, which these pouches (and most babies' diets in general) tend to be lacking in, and that the flash-heating pasteurisation process destroys vitamin C. It's reasonable to expect the general public to look at the NHS weaning guidance, it's totally unreasonable to expect them to research the effects of pasteurisation methods on vitamin C.

Sure. But it's totally unreasonable to think it's healthy or sufficient to feed babies on pouches alone. No one lives on microwave ready meals and expects to be healthy so why would people expect to be able to feed babies ready meals in pouches and them be healthy?

A baby under one will still be breast feeding or having formula which supplies all the nutrients they need, food before one is just for fun and learning textures. If a toddler is being fed pouch puree instead of real food that's just poor parenting. The lack of nutrition is really only a problem if you're feeding this to a 2 year old instead of real food. Other than that it's the sugar content and how mind bendingly sweet they are.

People complain about the nanny state but on this thread looking at the back of packets is being described as ‘research’. Back in the day that was just basic ‘reading’.

Not denying some of these food companies have a case to answer as they’ll have used every trick in the book to obfuscate, but ‘research’, really?

I bet half the people on here saying that were on one of the parenting or birthdate threads - doing ‘research’. Suddenly at the time of weaning, everyone is too tired to read anything.

I read threads like this just to enjoy all the perfect parent comments, always great fun. I do find it odd though how all those people haven’t released books explaining just how brilliant they are and exactly how everyone else should bring up their kids. Anyhow, back to the comments.

In the UK, pharmaceutical companies are required to ensure that the information they provide is "accurate, balanced,fair, objective and unambiguous and...must not mislead either directly or by implication, by distortion, exaggeration or undue emphasis."

Why don't we hold the food industry to equivalent standards?