Visual information on labels in commercial baby foods on Bulgarian market

Abstract

Abstract Background Production and sale of commercial baby foods in Bulgaria has grown in the last years. The evidence suggests that inappropriate promotion and advertising of commercial complementary foods can affect unfavourably child nutrition. The World Health Assembly has urged all Member States to “end inappropriate promotion of foods for infants and young children”. Methods The survey is part of WHO Regional Office for Europe project: Commercial foods for infants and young children in the WHO European Region. The data was collected in November 2017 in two districts in Sofia, Bulgaria using the mobile questionnaire, developed by WHO. The presence on various types of visual information on the package was recorded for 771 products on the market. Results The results reviled that 94.4% of the labels of baby foods on the market in the capital of Bulgaria - Sofia, use the pictures of ingredients and 52.9% - the cartoon images. The use of images of infants and young children presented in 8.7 % of the products and 6.9% of them marketed as suitable for babies under six months old, in violation of the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes. 0.4 % of baby foods use images of mothers in the labels. The “other” visual information related to various claims including “quality”, “bio” (i.e. organic) and various other nutrition and health claims. Conclusions There is inappropriate promotion of commercial complementary foods on Bulgarian market. Key messages Special measures, including legislative to limit inappropriate practices for the advertising of foods for infants and young children, are needed. Raising the parents’ awareness of the criteria for selecting commercial complementary foods is necessary.