The nonprofit, which aims to rank brands of commercially available complementary food products (CACFs), evaluated six corporations in ten markets. The conclusion of the ATNI? According to their methodology, all the products tested are unsuitable for promotion to infants and toddlers. Food brands dispute this conclusion.
ATNI relies heavily on the World Health Organization (WHO) for its assessment methodology. According to the WHO, CACF products are those that are advertised for infants and toddlers aged six months to three years.
From a labelling point of view, such products shall indicate the appropriate age of birth (not less than six months) and messages protecting and promoting exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months and continuous breastfeeding until the age of two years or more. They must not make nutritional, fitness or marketing claims, nor must they be endorsed by professionals and other applicable bodies.
In 2022, the WHO published its Nutrient Promotion and Profiling Model (NPPM). The style is complex, but necessarily encompasses claims about fitness, nutrition, marketing, and promotion of baby food to young people in this age group.
This is the method used through ATNI to rank the biggest names in commercially available complementary food products and baby foods. These include Danone, Hain Celestial, Hero, HiPP, Kraft Heinz, and Nestlé.
Countries assessed include Austria, Brazil, Canada, Egypt, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, Saudi Arabia, and the United Kingdom.
The most significant finding is that none of the 1,297 ACAF products for infants and toddlers evaluated were considered suitable for promotion for consumption among children between three months and three years of age. This is because no product was found that met all of NPPM’s requirements.
The news is that most ACAF products met the needs of fat, fruit content, sodium and protein, with varying degrees of compliance. More than three-quarters contained no added sugar or loose sweeteners, and most met sugar needs.
So where did they perform poorly? Most corporations scored low in terms of energy density, with about 70% meeting the criterion of good enough nutritional supply.
Kraft Heinz was considered to have the highest percentage of products that met nutritional composition needs (~42%), followed by Hero (~39%) and Danone (~38%).
The last time ATNI evaluated complementary food products was in 2021, when Danone took the top spot, but the method has since been superseded, an ATNI spokesperson said.
What it did not reposition is that, although Danone was in the first position at the time, it did not fully comply with the criteria and regulations of the time. “So in 2021 it’s also about a ‘failure’ of marketing criteria,” we were told.
The Access to Nutrition Initiative (ATNI) is a non-profit organization funded through governments and philanthropic organizations that aims to steer the market toward more nutritious, affordable, and sustainable food.
ATNI is well known by large food companies. The nonprofit ranks the top food and beverage brands in its global index, which it evaluates based on their governance and management; the production of healthy, affordable and available products; and how they influence potential customer choices and behaviors.
The most recent rating published in 2021, with Nestlé in first place, followed by Unilever, FrieslandCampina, Danone and Arla.
The WHO’s guidance is just that: guidance. But to create a points game box – and, in doing so, achieve greater alignment across the board – ATNI recommends moving beyond voluntary efforts toward mandatory regulation.
In the absence of national legislation, ATNI urges corporations to adhere to the WHO NPPM for both nutritional composition and labeling. To do this, they want to focus on energy density, reduce sugar content, transparency of labeling, and add messages about breastfeeding.
Ultimately, the findings underscore the need for “concerted” efforts by stakeholders (bringing in industry and policymakers) in ACAF’s nutritional quality and labeling practices, ATNI believes.
“Adherence to WHO standards will not only ensure the highest quality of products, but will also contribute to global fitness goals and disease prevention efforts. “
This week, ATNI also published the effects of a study comparing the marketing of breast-milk substitutes (BMS) and complementary food products. Although there were some innovations in marketing policies, ATNI found that no company was fully compliant with WHO policies (in this case, the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes). In response, ATNI calls for stricter regulation.
But the fact that food brands are judged through rules and not laws makes the ATNI’s findings moot to some. Food brands comply with local legislation and, in some cases, go above and beyond, we were told.
Nestlé is a company that does agree with the strategy and conclusions of the ATNI report.
“The nutritional criteria for foods from our early formative years are based on the most recent evidence-based nutritional guidelines and recommendations and are fully compliant with local legislation (which would possibly be based on CODEX or EU directives, for example),” a corporate spokesperson said. Food Navigator.
“The ATNI report is based on a style of nutrient profiling that has not been followed by any local law and is not based exclusively on solid clinical evidence. “
At the same time, Nestlé is following the WHO’s advice on sugar that less than 10% of total nutritional power be attributable to loose sugars in its early childhood portfolio. Compliance with this is reflected in the ATNI report.
Danone also disputes the ATNI report, arguing that any evaluation method will have to be based on the regulatory context of where a product is sold. The company regrets that this is not reflected in the newer method developed through ATNI, a spokesperson told the publication.
“The labeling and nutritional composition of complementary foods for young children are strictly regulated, taking into account national fitness needs and recommendations. We strictly adhere to those regulations everywhere we work to provide optimal nutrition for young children and their expansion and development.
Kraft Heinz, by contrast, has not commented on the report itself. Instead, the agribusiness company highlighted its commitment to foreign food criteria and local laws and regulations. The company’s spokesperson continued: “We are committed to the health and well-being of mothers, infants and young children and the WHO’s advice that young children be breastfed for the first six months, followed by the arrival of safe and nutritionally good complementary foods. “
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