Iron Content and Nutritional Quality of Commercial Complementary Baby Foods Available in Australia

Optimal nutrition in infancy supports growth, development and long-term health. Commercial complementary foods are widely used in Australia, yet concerns persist regarding their iron, sugar and sodium content. This study examines their nutritional composition.

In 2024, nutrition information was collected for complementary foods labelled from 6 months of age across four major retailers in Melbourne. Products for infants under 6 months and dairy-only products were excluded. Nutrient composition was analysed for iron, energy, fat, protein, carbohydrate, total sugar and sodium. Added sugars and free sugars were identified from ingredient lists.

A total of 266 products were identified. Snacks had the highest average energy (1692.7 ± 257.3 kJ/100 g), protein (7.8 ± 4.6 g/100 g), fat (9.1 ± 7.5 g/100 g), carbohydrates (69.4 ± 12.7 g/100 g), sodium (82.1 ± 109.9 mg/100 g) and iron (8.2 ± 10.9 mg/100 g), with some products containing up to 38 mg/100 g. Only 19.2% of all products were iron-fortified, and 10 of these products did not declare iron on the label. Iron-fortification was limited to grain-based products, most commonly breakfast cereals (58.8%) and snacks (37.3%). No fruit purees or main meals were iron-fortified. Fruit purees had high sugar content (9.7 g/100 g). Free sugars were present in 24.1% of products, most commonly snacks (46.4%).

Most commercial complementary foods provided little iron, and fortified products did not consistently declare iron content. Snacks were the most energy-, sugar- and sodium-dense category. Stronger standards and clearer labelling may better support infant feeding.