AMA calls for swift action on commercial foods for infants and young children

The call is part of the AMA’s submission to the Department of Health and Aged Care’s public consultation on improving commercial foods for infants and young children. 

AMA President Professor Steve Robson said parents and guardians should be able to rely on the government to ensure commercial foods for infants and young children support children’s health and nutrition and are labelled and marketed responsibly. 

“Many commercial foods for infants and young children fail to support optimal health, growth and development,” Professor Robson said. 

“The nutritional content of many of these products is inadequate and they fall short of international standards for labelling and promotion. 

“Parents and guardians are being bombarded by coercive marketing but do not have enough information about the nutritional quality of the commercial foods being sold to them to be able to make informed choices. 

“To protect our youngest Australians, comprehensive changes to the composition, texture, and labelling of commercial foods for infants and young children are imperative. 

“To be effective, these changes must be mandatory, and compliance with them must be strictly monitored and enforced. 

“The AMA recommends the government take action to overhaul the market for foods for infants and young children to ensure alignment with international best practice and dietary guidelines. 

“We want to ensure parents and carers can make informed decisions about what they are feeding their children.” 

The Food Regulation Standing Committee (FRSC) is seeking to improve the nutritional composition, labelling and texture of commercial foods for infants and young children through actions in the Food Regulation System. The issue is also being considered by the Foods for Early Childhood Reference Group of the Healthy Food Partnership. The goal of this work is to develop voluntary industry guidance to improve the labelling, packaging, serving size and flavour profile of commercial foods for infants and young children.  

Professor Robson said the AMA strongly supports the review and enhancement of labelling requirements for commercial foods for infants and young children.  

“The AMA believes quality standards need to be improved for commercial foods, as this would lift the quality of all infant and toddler foods,” he said 

The AMA is a supporter of two Food for Health Alliance campaigns — the Kids are sweet enough campaign, which supports healthy diets for babies and toddlers, and the Brands off our kids! Campaign, which aims to protect kids from unhealthy food marketing.