Source: Department of Health and Social Care published on this website Friday August 22 2025 by Jill Powell
Parents and carers across England will be able to shop for healthier food for their children with new guidelines for commercial baby food to reduce salt and sugar, along with clearer labelling to help parents make informed decisions.
Baby food manufacturers will be given 18 months to reduce sugar and salt levels in baby foods aimed at children up to 36 months old.
Businesses will be challenged to change the recipes for their products to reduce levels of salt and sugar, without the use of sweeteners as these are not permitted for use in commercial baby food. And clearer labelling guidelines will be introduced to help parents understand more easily what food they are buying for their children.
This government is committed to taking a different approach, to ensure it is on the side of parents and children so that babies are given the best start in life. This means going further and faster to support parents to make easier, healthier choices that will have benefits in the long term, easing pressures on parents without them having to change the products they usually buy.
Obesity costs the NHS £11.4 billion a year and is one of the root causes of diabetes, heart disease and cancer, and obesity rates have doubled since the 1990s – including among children. High sugar intake in children’s diets is a significant factor contributing to high rates of childhood obesity in the UK, which is among the highest in Western Europe
For too long, it’s been difficult for parents to work out what is healthy and what’s not because of confusing labelling. But this government is steadfast in its mission to make it easier than ever before to make better, more informed choices that work better around the busy lives of parents, where the new guidelines will help to put an end to the burden being on parents to sift through different products to choose the healthier ones.
The move comes as government hits the ground running in delivering its 10 Year Plan, which set out a swathe of preventative measures for children’s healthcare including more support from health visitors, better-quality early childhood developmental checks and a drive to tackle childhood obesity.
Public Health Minister Ashley Dalton said:
“Every child deserves a healthy, happy start to life. But babies’ development is being harmed by poor diets and unhealthy food, holding them back and piling up pressure on the NHS. Too often, parents are bombarded with confusing labels, disguising unhealthy foods packed with hidden sugars and salt.
“Our Plan for Change will tackle this, giving parents the information they need and providing children with good nutritious food. I’m determined to make it far easier for parents to keep their children healthy. From working with influencers to get children exercising, to banning junk food ads near schools – our 10 Year Health Plan will help kids today be part of the healthiest generation of children ever.”
The guidelines will also tackle misleading labelling that often conflicts with official feeding advice.
For example, some products labelled as snacks for babies from seven months onwards directly contradict government recommendations that children aged 6-12 months do not need snacks between meals, only milk.
Manufacturers will also be told to cease using misleading marketing claims that make products appear healthier than they are - for example, products with labels such as “contains no nasties” - when products may be high in sugar.
The move comes as data from the National Diet and Nutrition Survey published in June shows that more than two-thirds of children aged 18 months to 3 years are eating too much sugar, while over a fifth of children aged 4 to 5 years are overweight or living with obesity in England.
This excessive sugar intake increases the risk of weight gain and dental decay in the crucial early years of development.
Through the Plan for Change, the government aims to give every child the best start in life, which includes an extra £57 million for Start for Life services, helping expectant and new mothers with their infants, as well as expanded school-based nurseries and free breakfast clubs.
As part of our 10 Year Health Plan, the government launched a world-first partnership with food retailers and manufacturers to set a new healthy food standard, helping to make the average shopping basket healthier for families. If everyone who is overweight reduced their calorie intake by around 200 calories a day - the equivalent of a bottle of fizzy drink - obesity would be halved.
The government has also joined forces with fitness coach Joe Wicks to help get children active over the summer through the launch of a new animated series, Activate, available via YouTube.
From January 2026, adverts for less healthy products will be banned from being shown on TV before 9pm or at any time online, reducing children’s excessive exposure to many foods high in fat, sugar or salt. The government has also granted more powers to local authorities to ban fast food shops from setting up outside of schools.
