Baby biscuits ditched over fats

[BouncingTurtle]

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8032105.stm

I think what I found surprising was just how much sugar they contain!
I check the labels before buying but that is because I am anal about such things - as someone who is obese and has unhealthy relationship with food, I am very careful with ds's diet to ensure he has a wide variety of healthy food and snacks with the odd treat - but treats don't need to be laden with fat and sugar.
But don't a lot of parents assume that foods labelled for babies would naturally be healthy for them and not laden with sugar and transfats!
I'm pleased that C&G are withdrawing them but does the labelling on baby foods need to be made clearer so that parents can make an informed choice? And do we need more help for new parents on nutrition for babies wrt to complimentary foods?

i think nutrition labelling in general is very poor and almost designed to be confusing

things like "no added sugar" are misleading

I actaually feel better about giving my kids the normal rich tea biscuits for adults. The contents are simple, straightforward and easy to figure out.Those Brands targeting babies and kids would do anything to have their products appealing and possibly even addictive to their targets to guarantee sales.

go straight to dark Chocolate Mcvitie's Digestives.

A lot of people are going to hear this news story (because of the way media are reporting it) and conclude that fats are bad for babies, and that a low fat diet is good for babies.
Why can't the media report things responsibly and factually rather than re-interpret in dumbed down terms for their perceived-as-thick audience, arrggghhh..

The hydrog. fat in some items is what shocked me.

Also, the only way they will cut down 'sugar' is by adding artificial sweeteners (to the extent that that is allowed).

the BBC Breakfast report made it clear that fats are important in a baby's diet but it failed to clarify that transfats/hydrogenated fats is a no no in any diet and therefore has no place in baby food.

lljkk - that is a very good point... it can be very very confusing as well!
Agree about the no added sugar though some brands like Organix do sweeten with fruit juice rather refined sugar, which is better and definitely preferable to artificial sweetneners!
My Ds loves digestive biscuits, so I give them to him on odd occasions. I have also discovered he likes fig rolls as well lol.

That's a bugger. DD loves those bear biscuits and has been having them regularly since she was a year old

my biggest worry is always about the chemicals like additives and artificial colourings..those really friek me out..

give them rice cakes until they are old enough to work out that you are keeping the good shit away from them.

i gave ds the occasional one of these, as feeling like i was always giving rice cakes. also, i had people saying "give him a biscuit" etc, so thought these might be good as the occasional treat. assumed they wouldn't be TOO bad or contain any nasties. i guess i was naive.
i'm going to go back to daily dose of rice cakes as snacks.
honestly - we get told not to give too much fruit, cos of sugar, not too much salt (in breadsticks etc), so what is healthy to give as snacks? my ds refuses any salady type food, like cherry tomatoes or cucumber. he eats a lot of vegetables, but always leaves the green ones, despite me serving them pretty much every mealtime. agh!!

i think you're on dodgy ground as soon as you start talking about any food being a 'treat.' food is just food. no need to make some foods preferrable to others. by doing so you are basically saying the other foods, usually savoury ones, are not as nice.

yeah i guess. but then i have 'treats' and enjoy them for 5 minutes.
bananas and raisins are also occasional 'treats' for ds. he'd eat them all the time if he could, i have to restrict them. i think of treats as food that you can't just keep eating and eating.
but no i shouldn't make foods preferable to others. i am quite firm with foods, but then i've tried to relax more over the last few months (ds is 18 months old). i don't want him to be the one child who goes hyper at a party as he's never eaten any 'treats' (as i call them)

popcorn is really good for kids as it contains zinc ( our ds is used to having popcorn minus salt and sugar and loves it..depends on habit)...raisins make good snacks as do mini pizzas,etc..
i agree that rice cakes are a healthy option but only till the little ones start to see what other kids are eating...