{"id":563540,"date":"2026-07-28T13:14:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T13:14:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/563540\/"},"modified":"2026-07-28T13:14:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T13:14:10","slug":"4-out-of-5-toddler-foods-are-ultraprocessed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/563540\/","title":{"rendered":"4 out of 5 toddler foods are ultraprocessed"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n Four out of five foods sold for toddlers in the United States are ultraprocessed,<\/a> according to research that analyzed more than 2,700 products on grocery store shelves. Nearly half of those items also failed to meet at least one nutritional benchmark for children set by the World Health Organization.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cWe wanted to know what parents were seeing when they went to the grocery store,\u201d said lead author Erin Hudson, a postdoctoral researcher at the department of pediatrics at Children\u2019s Hospital Los Angeles.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cThe answer is over 80% of the products are ultraprocessed,\u201d Hudson said. \u201cMany of them are high in sugar, high in sodium, but parents really cannot tell that from just walking down the aisle.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Commercial foods marketed for children between 6 and 36 months should have no added sugar, artificial sweeteners or concentrated fruit juices, and limited saturated fats and sodium, according to the WHO Nutrient and Promotion Profile Model<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cWe found toddler products which failed to meet WHO standards on sugar were four times as likely to be ultraprocessed,\u201d said Hudson, who presented the preliminary research findings on Sunday at the annual meeting of the American Society for Nutrition.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cAlmost a quarter of the foods were higher in sodium than is recommended, and some were high in fat and calorie dense,\u201d she added. \u201cThese included organic foods.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Fruit pouches and oat bars are examples of foods that were high in sugar; ready-to-eat mac and cheese bowls and turkey sausages were high in sodium and fat; and peanut butter puffs were high in sodium, fat and calories, the researchers found.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cThe problem isn\u2019t just what\u2019s in these high-sugar, high-salt ultraprocessed foods, it\u2019s what they crowd out,\u201d said Jane Houlihan, research director for Healthy Babies Bright Futures<\/a>, an alliance of nonprofits, scientists and donors with a mission of reducing babies\u2019 exposures to neurotoxic chemicals. She was not involved in the study.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cA toddler who fills up on fruit snacks, sweetened yogurt, crackers and snack bars is likely to eat fewer whole grains, vegetables, beans and other healthier foods,\u201d Houlihan said in an email.\n <\/p>\n

\n The first 1,000 days of a child\u2019s life are vital for the growth and development of their brain and subsequent health, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.<\/a> A healthy diet is a key part of that progress.\n <\/p>\n

\n Early childhood is also the time when taste preferences are set for life, experts say. Eating too many overly sweet, highly processed foods in childhood may lead to choosing sugar and artificial flavors over natural, nutrient-dense foods in the years to come.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cParents don\u2019t have to be on the baby and toddler aisle at the store once their kid is able to chew,\u201d said senior study author Marissa Burgermaster, assistant professor of nutritional sciences at the University of Texas at Austin.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cKids can eat whatever healthy foods and snacks the family is eating \u2014 just chop or mash it up,\u201d Burgermaster said. \u201cIndustry has marketed these toddler foods to make parents believe these foods were created for the health of toddlers, and it\u2019s just not true.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n The US Food and Drug Administration proposed a rule in<\/a> 2025 for a mandatory, front-of-package labeling system for most packaged foods that would rate a food as \u201clow,\u201d \u201cmedium\u201d or \u201chigh\u201d in added sugars, sodium and saturated fat. At this time, however, foods marketed to children under 4 would be exempt from that requirement.\n <\/p>\n

\n The Consumer Brands Association, which represents industry, told CNN in an email that \u201cAmerica\u2019s trusted household brands offer parents and caregivers a wide variety of safe, affordable and convenient product choices to meet different dietary needs, preferences and family budgets.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n There is currently no universally accepted scientific definition of the term \u2018ultraprocessed\u2019 food, a spokesperson said. \u201cCherry-picking data to fit a narrative undermines the seriousness of the need for risk-based, peer-reviewed and rigorous scientific processes.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n To do the research, Hudson and her team photographed foods marketed to children between 6 and 36 months at 21 grocery stores in Austin, Texas. First foods, such as infant formula, drinks and purees, were excluded from the study.\n <\/p>\n

\n Researchers analyzed nutrition labels on 2,783 products for grams of sugar, salt, saturated and unsaturated fat, total calories and additives. They then compared foods to the NOVA classification system, which separates foods into four categories based on the level of processing.\n <\/p>\n

\n Group one of the NOVA system covers unprocessed or minimally processed foods in their natural state, such as fruits, vegetables, meat, milk and eggs. Group two includes culinary ingredients such as salt, herbs and oils. Group three consists of processed foods that combine groups one and two \u2014 canned goods and frozen vegetables are examples.\n <\/p>\n

\"Pizza<\/p>\n

\n Group four includes ultraprocessed foods, which typically contain artificial ingredients not found in whole foods. Additives include preservatives to resist mold and bacteria; emulsifiers to keep incompatible ingredients from separating; artificial colorings and dyes; fragrance and flavor enhancers; anti-foaming, bulking, bleaching, gelling and glazing agents; and added or altered sugar, salt and fats designed to make food more appealing.\n <\/p>\n

\n Prior research published in January<\/a> found over 70% of 651 baby and toddler foods contained additives that emerging research has linked to inflammation and disruptions in the gut microbiome.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cWhat shocked me was the top ingredient in 71% of these baby foods wasn\u2019t a fruit or vegetable \u2014 it was one or more additives,\u201d Elizabeth Dunford, an adjunct assistant professor of nutrition at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, told CNN previously.<\/a>\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cWe know that babies\u2019 guts are not fully developed enough to be able to handle additives in the way an adult stomach could,\u201d said Dunford, lead author of the January baby food study. \u201cThere is no need for these additives; they are simply cosmetic, designed to make the food look more appealing.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Until federal guidelines are developed, experts say the burden falls on parents to find the healthy choices among the lineup of less healthy products.\n <\/p>\n

\n To do that, parents must read nutrition labels and ingredient lists, Houlihan said.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cYou can\u2019t assume foods marketed for toddlers are actually healthy,\u201d she said. \u201cA pouch labeled \u2018100% fruit\u2019 can deliver a big hit of sugar. A snack that\u2019s \u2018perfect for little fingers\u2019 can be loaded with artificial ingredients, too much salt, or industrial fatty acids.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Look for \u201cadded sugar\u201d and \u201csaturated\u201d fats on the nutrition label and if you see those, \u201cput the food back on the shelf,\u201d Hudson said. \u201cLook at the additives in the ingredients at the bottom \u2014 are there natural and artificial flavors? Are there emulsifiers like gums, xanthan gum, carrageenan? All of these are markers of ultraprocessed or unhealthy foods.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Fruit juice concentrate is a red flag for hidden added sugars, she explained.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cFruit juice concentrates are essentially only the sugar and flavor of fruit \u2014 everything else with nutritive value has been stripped away, almost like a simple syrup,\u201d Hudson said. \u201cSometimes manufacturers put fruit juice concentrate in the food and do not add it to the added sugars on the nutrition label even though that\u2019s what it is.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n As often as possible, parents should prepare healthy foods at home instead of using store-bought foods, Houlihan said. Try to limit fruit juice. Serve whole or diced fruit instead of pouches and purees.\n <\/p>\n

\n Pair fruit and veggies with protein and healthy fats like yogurt or nut butter \u2014 when age-appropriate \u2014 for balanced snacks. Offer lots of different fruits, vegetables, beans, healthy meats and whole grains.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cParents shouldn\u2019t have to decode every package in the grocery store to find healthy food for toddlers,\u201d Houlihan said. \u201cBut until stronger standards are in place, choosing and preparing simpler, less processed foods is one of the best ways to stack the odds in a toddler\u2019s favor.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Get inspired by a weekly roundup on living well, made simple. Sign up for CNN\u2019s Life, But Better newsletter<\/a> for information and tools designed to improve your well-being.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Four out of five foods sold for toddlers in the United States are ultraprocessed, according to research that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":563541,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[163,85,46,543],"class_list":["post-563540","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nutrition","tag-health","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-nutrition"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/563540","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=563540"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/563540\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/563541"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=563540"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=563540"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=563540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}