Ms. Sweeney’s, erm, attributes are apparently harmful to babies
We hear on the journalistic grape vine - one as gloriously unreliable as any other gossip network - that a newspaper at the very tabloid end of the market has had to apply airbrushing to a picture of Ms. Sweeney. Too much cleavage apparently.
A similar problem appears to be afflicting the healthy food brigade. We’re told that baby foods are all most, most, unhealthy:
One in three baby food products in supermarkets are ultra-processed, a study has found, and experts have warned that this is “setting children up for a life of obesity”.
A team at the University of Leeds analysed 632 snacks, cereals, jars and pouches of food targeted at babies and toddlers from leading brands including Heinz and Ella’s Kitchen.
They found that the ready-made products were often laden with sugar and that 31 per cent were classified as ultra-processed foods (UPFs). This is a term for mass-produced foods with multiple ingredients and additives, which are linked to poor health and diseases.
So, what, actually, is this definition of food unhealthy for babies?
21% of applicable products (dry cereals, dairy, fruit products/purees and meals) were too watery and did not meet the minimum energy density requirements: 29% of fruit products and 22% of meals were too low in energy (too watery)
Foods must be energy dense.
Meals should be savoury and snacks less sweet, a maximum of 15% total energy from sugar is recommended.
But sugar, that energy dense part of food, is just right out.
We thought we’d look this up:
In human milk, sugars (primarily lactose and human milk oligosaccharides - HMOs) contribute approximately 40% of the total energy content.
So the current definition of food that is safe for babies does not include boob juice. Sure, sure, there could be some technical detail we’re not aware of here but even so we really do think that’s a hard sell. So much so that we even begin to doubt the standards these people are using to define safe for babies.
Still, that does explain the airbrushing of Ms. Sweeney’s image. It is a demand of these prodnoses that no one be allowed to advertise unhealthy foods*, right?
Tim Worstall
*Yes, yes, we know, size, shape and presentation have nothing at all to do with milk production. At least we’ve not made a HypnoBoob™ joke.