What is "children's food"?

At present, the state does not set up a special "children's food" classification, that is to say, the current popular "children's food" in the market is not food classification, but food marketing for children. For example, "children's soy sauce", as a special product for children, if it belongs to low-salt soy sauce or adds nutritional fortifiers, it has certain benefits for the growth of children. However, some "children's soy sauce" labeled "low salt" and "low sodium" may not be low in salt at all.

Related standards on "children's food"

At present, there is no national food safety standard for "children's food". The existing national food safety standards for infants and young children aged 0-3 are: "Food Safety National Standard Infant Formula Food" (GB 10765-2021), "Food Safety National Standard larger infant formula food" (GB 10766-2021), "Food Safety National Standard Infant formula food" (GB 10767-2021) and other national mandatory standards. However, for food production and packaging labeling standards over the age of 3, they are based on adult food related standards and are not subdivided into various age groups.

Scientific understanding of "children's food"

1. Snacks can't replace meals

Children should give priority to milk, fruits, vegetables, nuts and other nutrient-rich foods, choose less snacks with high salt, high sugar and high oil, and drink less sugary drinks.

2. Limit colored snacks

Children should avoid long-term or large amounts of food with bright colors, such as colorful candy, jelly and other foods.

3. Internet celebrities "children's food" should be wary

Some Internet red "children's food", the product packaging marked by the manufacturer, the implementation of standards or ingredients list and other information is incomplete, such foods need to be carefully purchased.

Choose Children's food wisely

1. Purchase through formal channels

The label of the regular product should be printed with clear name, ingredient list, net content, factory name, factory address, telephone, production date, shelf life, product standard number and other key information.

2. Learn to read ingredient lists

"Food Safety National Standard pre-packaged food labeling General Rules" (GB 7718-2011) stipulates that various ingredients should be in descending order according to the amount added when manufacturing or processing food, ranked in the first place, is often the highest content of raw materials in the food purchased by consumers. For example, if the first ingredient in a "children's milk" list is water, then this food may be a beverage.

3. Learn to read the nutrition facts sheet

According to the General Rules for Nutrition Labeling of Pre-Packaged Foods (GB 28050-2011), unless otherwise specified, all foods must be labeled with "4+1", "4" represents the four core nutrients: protein, fat, carbohydrates and sodium, and "1" refers to energy.

For example, the biggest difference between dairy products and dairy drinks is the content of protein, so we can distinguish the two by the protein content indicated in the nutrition facts list. The protein content of milk is more than 2.3g/100g, while milk drinks are generally about 1.0g/100g.

If you would like to learn more about the food industry, please visit the SIAL Shanghai website for more information.

Source: Pingdingshan Market Supervision

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