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Weaning

Find weaning advice from other Mumsnetters on our Weaning forum. Use our child development calendar for more information.

how much sodium and sugar is ok?

6 replies

missytequila · 19/10/2010 14:23

I went to a weaning class and was told no sugar and no salt before one.....

but literally every baby food product out there has a little bit of sugar and some sodium...even those ella's kitchen packs which i have seen all my friends feeding their kids...

i am more or less trying to make my own food, but if i want to use baby food to go once in a while..or baby biscuit....how much is really acceptable...how many grams?

OP posts:
Seona1973 · 19/10/2010 14:34

Babies should have less than 1g of salt up to 1 year (0.4g sodium)

from food standards agency:

The daily recommended maximum for children depends on their age:

?1 to 3 years ? 2g salt a day (0.8g sodium)
?4 to 6 years ? 3g salt a day (1.2g sodium)
?7 to 10 years ? 5g salt a day (2g sodium)
?11 and over ? 6g salt a day (2.4g sodium

I dont think there is a level for sugar but the above site does give this info:

Nutrition panel
Look for the 'Carbohydrates (of which sugars)' figure in the nutrition information panel. The panel is usually found on the back of food packs.

High is more than 15g sugars per 100g
Low is 5g sugars or less per 100g

If the amount of sugars per 100g is in between these figures, then that is a medium level of sugars

Remember that the amount you eat of a particular food affects the overall amount of sugars you will get from it.

The sugars figure in a nutrition panel is the amount of total sugars in the food. It includes sugars from fruit and milk as well as the sugars that have been added to the food.

So a product containing lots of fruit or milk will be a healthier choice than one that contains lots of added sugars, even if the two products contain similar amounts of total sugars. You can tell if the food contains lots of added sugars by checking the ingredients list (see below).

Sometimes you will only see a figure for 'Carbohydrates', and not for 'Carbohydrates (of which sugars)'. The 'Carbohydrates' figure will also include starchy carbohydrates so you can?t use it to work out if a food contains a high, medium or low amount of sugars. But you can still check the ingredients list to get a feel for whether the food is high in added sugars

missytequila · 19/10/2010 22:09

wow thank you for that detailed message..

sooo many baby products have too much sodium! its shocking.

the baby foods don't have added sugars... but still there is sugar on the label thats why I am confused

OP posts:
Seona1973 · 20/10/2010 10:14

baby products from the uk wont have added salt but you do get naturally occuring sodium. Sugar is present in fruits so any fruit purees will show a high level of sugar even though there is no extra sugar added - the sugar is naturally present.

missytequila · 20/10/2010 16:49

so are naturally occurring sodium and sugars ok then?

OP posts:
cheeseytoastie · 20/10/2010 17:07

Are you reading the label right? I've just checked the stage 1 jars that I have (many brands) and most of them have no more than 0.04g (and many are trace or 0.01g), so they'd need to eat a lot of jars to get to 0.4g!

I personally think naturally occurring is fine, nothing you can do to avoid it as long as it isn't ham or bacon! You can't tell how much is in your home-made food at all....

Seona1973 · 20/10/2010 19:56

The important thing is to not add extra salt/sugar to foods you cook and and to limit saltier foods e.g. cheese, ham, bacon, sausages, etc

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