The Australian Medical Association is calling on the government to implement best practice standards for nutrition in commercial foods for infants and young children.
As part of its submission to the Department of Health and Aged Care’s public consultation, the AMA is urging the government to put a stop to what it says is coercive and deceptive marketing of products.
This comes as a study found not a single infant or toddler food product stocked in Australian supermarkets meets standards set by the World Health Organization.
President Professor Steve Robson said parents and guardians should be able to rely on the government to ensure commercial foods are labelled and marketed responsibly:
Many commercial foods for infants and young children fail to support optimal health, growth and development. 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.
The AMA says the changes must be mandatory, and compliance must be strictly monitored and enforced.
