Overview

• Government guidance sets voluntary nutrient targets, including under 10g total sugar per 100g for desserts and breakfasts and salt caps of 60mg per 100 calories, or 100mg when cheese is used.
• Manufacturers must reformulate without sweeteners, which are not permitted in commercial baby foods, and end marketing and labelling that conflict with NHS feeding advice.
• The Department of Health and Social Care expects compliance within 18 months and says it will consider tougher measures if businesses do not act.
• Official survey data show more than two thirds of 18-month-to-three-year-olds consume too much sugar and over a fifth of four-to-five-year-olds are overweight or living with obesity in England.
• Paediatric dietitians welcome clearer rules but advise parents to prioritise home-cooked or nutrient-dense family foods over routine use of pouches and toddler snacks, and to ignore health-halo claims such as no nasties.