Concentration of sugars in commercial infant foods in New Zealand.

: Concern has been expressed about the level of sugars in baby foods. It has been suggested that high levels of sucrose consumption during infancy and early childhood have been related not only to direct deleterious effects on health and teeth but also to the acquisition of taste patterns which lead to established sweet preferences in later life. This study was undertaken to determine the sugar content of a variety of commercially available New Zealand infant food using the para-hydroxybenzoic acid hydrazide colorimetric reaction. Twenty-eight different foods were assayed, and five baby desserts studied in detail. All infant desserts contained sucrose. Estimates of the total sugar content of desserts ranged from 16 to 47 percent. Sucrose levels varied from less than 1, to 23 percent. The level of sugars in commercial baby foods appeared unnecessarily high. It is suggested that New Zealand manufacturers seriously examine the need to add sucrose to such products.