Joint Research Centre (JRC), European Commission, 21207 Ispra, Italy.
Nutrients. 2021 Sep 3;13(9):3105. doi: 10.3390/nu13093105.
Introducing children to healthy and diverse complementary foods, either prepared at home or produced commercially, helps to establish taste preferences and good eating habits later in life. Assessing the nutrient profile of foods available commercially is key to informing consumers and policy makers. We used commercial data to provide an overview of the energy and nutrient content of 7 categories of foods intended for infants and young children that were launched or re-launched across 27 European countries from March 2017 to March 2021 ( = 3427). We also assessed the presence of sugars as added ingredients, and the foods' level of processing, using the NOVA classification system. In total, 38.5% of the products contained at least one sugar-contributing ingredient; about 10% of products listed an added sugar, almost ¼ of the products listed a free sugar and finally about 20% of the products listed fruit and vegetable purees and powders as an ingredient. Half of the products had a 'no added sugars' positioning statement; among these, almost 35% had free sugars, fruit and vegetable purees and powders as added ingredients. With regard to processing classification, 46.3% of the products were minimally processed, 24.5% were processed and 29.2% ultra-processed. About half of all products had a 'no artificial ingredient' positioning statement; however, among these, 31.4% were ultra-processed. Our analysis showed that, within each food category, products with sugars as an added ingredient had a less desirable nutrient profile compared to those that did not have sugar-contributing ingredients. The results for level of processing were similar; in most food categories, ultra-processed foods had higher energy, fat, saturated fat, sugars and sodium content, and lower fibre content, compared to the minimally processed and processed ones.
向儿童介绍健康和多样化的补充食品，无论是在家准备的还是商业生产的，都有助于在以后的生活中建立口味偏好和良好的饮食习惯。评估商业上可获得的食品的营养状况是为消费者和政策制定者提供信息的关键。我们使用商业数据，对 2017 年 3 月至 2021 年 3 月期间在 27 个欧洲国家推出或重新推出的 7 类适合婴幼儿食用的食品的能量和营养成分进行了概述（n = 3427）。我们还使用 NOVA 分类系统评估了添加糖作为成分的存在情况以及食品的加工程度。总共有 38.5%的产品至少含有一种添加糖成分；约 10%的产品列出了添加糖，近 1/4 的产品列出了游离糖，最后约 20%的产品列出了水果和蔬菜泥和粉末作为成分。一半的产品有“无添加糖”的定位声明；其中，近 35%的产品含有游离糖、水果和蔬菜泥和粉末作为添加成分。就加工分类而言，46.3%的产品是轻微加工的，24.5%是加工的，29.2%是超加工的。约一半的产品有“无人工成分”的定位声明；然而，其中 31.4%是超加工的。我们的分析表明，在每个食品类别中，含有添加糖的产品与不含添加糖成分的产品相比，其营养成分更不理想。加工水平的结果相似；在大多数食品类别中，与轻微加工和加工食品相比，超加工食品的能量、脂肪、饱和脂肪、糖和钠含量更高，纤维含量更低。
