Baby Food Product Marketing and Its Impact on Oral Health

Objectives: 1. Assess the on-pack marketing and promotional strategies of leading commercially available pre-packaged infant foods targeting infants aged 6-plus months.

2. Evaluate the impact of these products on oral health by analysing their acidogenic potential.
Methods: This study consists of two parts. The first part is an observational study that assessed the on-pack marketing of the selected baby food products, and the second part is an in-vitro study.

1. Four leading infant food brands in the UK were selected to be evaluated and two flavours from each brand, fruit-based and vegetable-based purees, were included. Therefore, a total of eight baby food groups were included, along with positive and negative control (N=10).

2. Product characteristics were recorded using a coding sheet adapted from WHO media-based food marketing protocols.

3. An in-vitro study assessed the titratable acidity of the products and their impact on sound bovine enamel samples (n=80). Mineral changes were measured using Quantitative Light Fluorescence (QLF).
Results: 1. Content analysis showed that all fruit-flavoured products had lime juice added, contributing to higher acidity. Whereas, vegetable-flavoured products were primarily made with vegetables as claimed.

2. Packaging analysis also demonstrated that fruit flavours contained three times more total sugar than vegetable flavours.

3. Titratable acidity confirmed that fruit flavours had pH levels below 4, indicating high acidity, while vegetable flavours were less acidic, with pH levels of around 5.
Conclusions: In this study, it was found that pre-packed baby food products were acidic. However, vegetable-based purees were less acidic. These results emphasise the importance of raising awareness among parents to select healthier options for their children, such as preparing homemade semi-solid meals over market-available purees, as they could present risks to infants dentition.
These results are initial observations, and more information will be gained when the next stages of the research are performed.