From children’s soy sauce to children’s dumplings, there are many kinds of “children’s food”. Parents are blind to buy.
Foods are labelled “children”,will it be safe?
● Many parents are keen to buy food labeled as “children” for the purpose of healthy diet for their children, promoting more and more types of “children’s food” and a bigger market. The price of “children’s food” is much higher than that of similar foods, and some families’ expenditure on “children’s food” has accounted for more than half of the family’s food expenditure
● “Children’s food” should establish a scientific and standardized certification system like green food, organic food and children’s medicine, and effectively meet the special needs of children’s body, bones, brain and other growth and development
On April 16, taking advantage of the weekend, Wen Jun, a resident of Chaoyang, Beijing, came to a nearby large supermarket to go shopping for her 3-year-old son. In just half an hour, her shopping basket was already full of various foods, including Pasta, soy sauce, cheese, etc., the outer packaging of these foods are all marked with the word “children”, and some have the words “no additives” printed in prominent positions. This suggests that these foods are exclusively for children.
“There are too many additives, flavors, and pigments in adult food, and I am afraid that children will eat unhealthy food. My father and I are busy at work. It is not realistic to study whether every meal is suitable for children’s dietary needs.” Children’s Food ‘Green health solves this problem.” Wen Jun told a reporter from Rule of Law Daily.
Like Wen Jun, many parents are keen to buy food labeled “children” for the purpose of healthy diet for their children, promoting more and more types of “children’s food” and a growing market. The reporter recently interviewed more than 10 parents in Beijing who have purchased “children’s food” many times and learned that everyone has no idea what the standard of “children’s food” is, and what is the difference between it and adult food. The main thing is to trust the packaging. The word “children” on it.
A number of industry experts interviewed by reporters pointed out that at present, my country does not have a special “children’s food” category, and “children’s food” lacks special laws and regulations and national food safety standards, and is more like a marketing tool. Call for increased supervision, set corresponding food standards for “children’s food”, and raise the entry threshold; at the same time, strengthen nutrition knowledge education for parents through multiple channels, so that parents can rationally choose food that is really suitable for children’s consumption.
Children’s food market is hot
The price is higher than similar food
“Mom, I want to eat noodles in the shape of small fish.” The son pointed to a “children’s pasta” on the shelf and pulled Wen Jun’s trouser legs. The pasta is made into a variety of cute shapes, from fish in the ocean, to cars, flowers, and more. Wen Jun immediately took two packs and put them in the shopping basket.
The reporter went around the supermarket and saw that commodities containing the words “children’s food” were scattered on the shelves in various commodity areas, such as children’s soy sauce, children’s dumplings, etc. These commodities generally put a lot of effort into the outer packaging: some colors Bright, some are designed with various cartoon patterns, and at the same time are printed with words such as “no additives”, “help growth” and “nutrition”.
There are also some products, although not clearly marked as “children’s food” in the product name or label, but their advertising slogans or outer packaging all reveal that they are sold to children. For example, there is a yogurt with the slogan “children’s food”. The first yogurt.”
The reporter noticed that a large number of consumers bought “children’s food” on the spot. Several parents told reporters that buying products marked with the word “children” is “reassuring”. A parent bought four or five packs of “Children’s Cheese Sticks” at once, she said: “Since the merchants have marked this as ‘Children’s Cheese Sticks’, the standard should be higher than ordinary cheese sticks and the ingredients are safer, so I Just kept buying this; kids love Elsa (a cartoon character) printed on it.”
And “children’s food” is expensive. For example, a 300g-pack of children’s dumplings from a certain brand has three different packagings: shrimp emperor series, shrimp carrots and children’s wontons, with prices ranging from 19.9 yuan to 34.3 yuan. The ordinary dumplings of the same brand placed next to the counter are priced at 12.9 yuan per 1kg, which is much lower than children’s dumplings when the weight is much larger.
Wen Jun also clearly felt the problem of high prices of “children’s food”. She said frankly that since her son was about 1 year old, she began to purchase “children’s food”, and the expenditure on “children’s food” has accounted for more than half of the family’s food expenditure. Peace of mind”.
“Children’s food” is equally popular on e-commerce platforms. The reporter entered the keyword “children’s food” on the e-commerce platform, and the searched products were dazzling, including pasta, desserts, sausages, cheese sticks, etc. Among them, the monthly sales of the highest-selling products reached 100,000+. Almost all of these products display the words “no added flavors, colors, preservatives” in the title, detail page or product packaging, and promotional photos.
The “Children’s Snacks Market Research White Paper” jointly released by the China Non-staple Food Circulation Association and the Institute of Food and Nutrition Development of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs predicts that the children’s snack market will grow steadily at a compound annual growth rate of 10% to 15% by 2023. The “2022 Children’s Food Industry Research Report” recently released by the Dingmang Research Institute shows that 84.8% of parents tend to buy food marked “children” for their children.
However, the reporter learned in the interview that many parents did not know and did not take the initiative to understand, what kind of food is called “children’s food”?
Xia Qunying, a national second-level public nutritionist, said that children at different ages have different nutritional needs. Before the age of 6 months, the nutrition a child needs can be obtained from infant formula. After 6 months, the child’s demand for iron, zinc, vitamins and other elements will increase. Therefore, food that can meet the nutritional needs of children at all ages can truly be called “children’s food”.
Essentially a marketing strategy
A healthy diet can replace
On the shelves in the seasoning area of the above supermarket, a product called “Organic Children’s Soy Sauce” attracted the attention of reporters. The reporter checked its ingredient list and compared it with ordinary soy sauce and found that the ingredients of this children’s soy sauce and ordinary soy sauce are basically the same, which are water, organic wheat, edible salt, etc., but the price of the two soy sauces is nearly doubled. The shopping guide present told reporters: “In fact, there is no difference between children’s soy sauce and ordinary soy sauce.”
The variety of “children’s food” has made some parents dazzled. Ms. Liu, who lives in Xicheng District, Beijing, said that advertisements about “children’s food” are now overwhelming, and each product claims to be “no additives and suitable for healthy growth of children.” “I want to buy yogurt for my child. I went to the supermarket and saw that some are called XX yogurt, some are called XX cheese, and there are XX milk preparations. All kinds of products have the word ‘children’ on them, so I don’t know what to buy. All right.”
“I found that almost all ‘children’s foods’ have no clear age grouping and consumption tips. It seems that the word ‘children’ is foolproof. Some parents around me, like me, are ‘blind selection’.” Liu said the lady.
Zhong Kai, director of the Kexin Food and Health Information Exchange Center, said that from the current market situation, “children’s food” is not a food category, but a food marketed to children. Behind its popularity is the high premium and easy money making in the children’s market. “It’s more of a marketing strategy than these foods are good for kids to eat healthy.”
“Nowadays, many parents don’t actually know what children’s nutrition needs, and what kind of nutrition ‘children’s food’ needs to have. They just buy the so-called ‘children’s food’ on the market under the marketing or following the trend of merchants, which may make children Consuming more substances that are harmful to health when eating is not worth the loss.” Xia Qunying said.
The reporter checked a children’s cheese stick and found that the ingredients list shows that the cheese stick contains food additives such as carrageenan, sorbic acid, and edible flavors; the nutrition composition table shows that each 100g contains protein, fat, vitamin A and a large amount of sodium content .
“Excessive sodium content may increase the risk of children’s blood pressure.” Xia Qunying said that some so-called “children’s foods” are not only indistinguishable from ordinary foods, but may even be harmful to children’s health, such as in some modulated dairy products. Excessive sugar substitutes, flavors, pigments, etc., will interfere with the development of children’s taste nerves; excessive intake of additives such as sorbic acid and citric acid will affect the absorption of calcium.
In her opinion, all the current “children’s food” are actually highly substitutable and can be replaced by daily reasonable diet and collocation. When taking care of her 5-year-old daughter’s diet, she has never purchased any “children’s food” except milk powder and rice noodles. “Ordinary ingredients, produced through scientific and reasonable collocation, can fully meet the needs of children’s healthy growth. Compared with ‘children’s food’, parents need to increase the health knowledge of children’s diet.”
Establish standards to fill in the gaps
Educating parents to make the right choice
In fact, at present, my country does not have a special “children’s food” classification, and “children’s food” lacks special laws and regulations and national food safety standards. Relevant standards such as “National Food Safety Standard for Infant Formula”, “National Food Safety Standard for Older Infant Formula”, “National Food Safety Standard for Young Children’s Formula” and other relevant standards are mostly aimed at the “infants and young children” group, covering objects from 0 to 36 months old. Infants and toddlers.
In May 2020, the China Non-staple Food Circulation Association issued the “General Requirements for Children’s Snacks”, which regulates children’s snacks in terms of raw materials, sensory elements, nutritional components, etc., filling the blank of domestic children’s snack standards, but the standard is not mandatory.
In recent years, the blank of “children’s food” health standards has attracted attention from all walks of life. This year, Gao Jie, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, suggested that legislation specifically for food packaging labels for minors should be strengthened to promote the improvement of national and industrial standards; Labeling, food additive requirements, food safety standards, etc. are clearly stipulated.
Yao Juan, a representative of the National People’s Congress, stated in the “Suggestions on Promoting the Standardization and Healthy Development of Children’s Food” that a “children’s food” standard system should be established and improved to guide the “children’s food” industry from developing from standard to standard. It is recommended to establish a series of standards such as “Children’s Quick-Frozen Food”, “Children’s Pre-made Dishes (specific dishes)”, and “Children’s Cakes”, and gradually establish and improve the “Children’s Food” standard system with the framework of children’s meals, children’s snacks, and children’s snacks.
Relevant departments are also concerned about the health standards of “children’s food”. On March 23 this year, the Expert Symposium on Nutritional Standards for Healthy and Safe Foods for Chinese Adolescents and Children was held. The meeting revealed that in 2022, the key task of the China Adolescents and Children’s Health and Safety Food Administration Committee is to promote the formulation of healthy nutrition standards for adolescents and children. The new standards will be divided into 0 to 6 years old, 6 years old to 13 years old, and 13 years old to 18 years old according to the age of children and adolescents. 7 aspects to standardize the specific requirements of healthy and safe food for young people and children, so that the safety of food for young people and children can be governed by regulations.
Wang Yuyu, a professor at the School of Economic Law of Southwest University of Political Science and Law, believes that in addition to the existing safety standards for infant food under 36 months, other “children’s food” should establish a scientific and standardized certification system like green food, organic food and children’s medicine. Meet the special needs of the growth and development of the body, bones, and brain in children.
In Zhong Kai’s view, it is very difficult to set the corresponding “children’s food” standard at present. “From a professional point of view, it is difficult for you to put forward the safety indicators (including additives) that are different from ordinary food. At present, there may exist “children’s food”. Unhealthy problems, behind which are the problems of reasonable collocation and moderate consumption that cannot be ignored.” Therefore, he suggested that, on the one hand, it is necessary to regulate the marketing behavior for children; on the other hand, it is necessary to educate consumers, especially parents, to make correct choices and combinations in children’s diet.
Xia Qunying proposed to offer more nutrition courses: hospitals need to set up more nutrition courses, mainly for pregnant women who seek medical consultation. From pregnancy to after the birth of the child, establish a phased online course or offline science; Add nutrition classes to let children realize the importance of nutrition from an early age.
Trainee reporter Sun Tianjiao
Reporter Zhao Li