French consumer watchdog alerts on sugary, ultra processed dairy products for children

A French consumer group (Foodwatch) has condemned ten popular children’s dairy products, warning they’re overloaded with sugar, salt, fat, and ultra-processed ingredients, putting young consumers’ health at serious risk.

RFI has reported that among the products are several popular names: Babybel Mini Rolls, Petits Filous, Smarties yoghurts, Kiri Goûter, P’tit Louis, Danonino, P’tite Danette, and Nesquik Petit, among others.

According to Foodwatch, all of them fail to meet the World Health Organization’s (WHO) nutritional standards.

“None of these unbalanced products pass the WHO’s nutrition criteria crash test,” Foodwatch explains.

The warning comes as public health experts continue to raise concerns about the impact of ultra-processed foods on children’s health, like contributing to childhood obesity and increases the risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and some cancers.

Foodwatch has raised another issue of ‘misleading marketing’ tactics where the packaging of these products features colorful designs, cartoon characters and games to attract children.

They also target parents, the group notes, with reassuring labelling like “contains calcium and vitamin D for bone growth” or “no artificial colors or flavors.”

“These products are not healthy, yet they’re marketed as if they are”, the organisation warns.