The headlines making busy mums feel guilty today.

My 18-month-old son has eaten more supermarket 'baby food' than I can physically count.

Sometimes because I was (or am) too busy or too overwhelmed to cook dinner.

Sometimes because my son would reject the homemade meal I'd made him, and it was the only thing he'd consume. 

Sometimes because it felt like the healthiest option I had on offer in my kitchen that night.

Sometimes because the pouches of mooshy pear and apple were the only things that would calm him on a busy train/bus/plane.

Sometimes because aforementioned mooshy fruit straight from the fridge was quite nice on his sore gums after a bout of teething.

The list of reasons is endless, and this week I felt incredibly guilty about all of them. 

Watch: A quick and easy recipe for a delicious Mango smoothie with icy poles.

Because we've just been told that not a single baby or toddler food sold in Australian supermarkets meets international guidelines for health and promotion set by the World Health Organization.

A team from the George Institute for Global Health analysed 309 infant and toddler foods sold in major supermarkets, which are marketed at children aged between six months and three years of age. 

None of them met WHO guidelines for promotion, and more than 78 per cent of them didn't meet the mark on overall nutritional requirements. The researchers cited things like too many calories and too much sugar among the reasons. 

My emotions quickly flicked from guilt, to embarrassment. How could I have been duped like this?

While I of course knew packaged baby food was never going to be as good as anything homemade, on the days I used it I thought, 'Well at least he'll be getting some nutrition from these. 

I know I am not alone in that. Research Fellow at the George Institute for Global Health, Dr Elizabeth Dunford, confirmed as much when she explained while sharing the findings: "Time-poor parents are looking for convenience, but most would be shocked by the industry's deceptive marketing tactics suggesting products are healthier than they are, that are rife across this category."

Parents beware - the ‘wild west’ of baby and toddler food marketing revealed https://t.co/e9XOiqIwNA

— The George Institute for Global Health (@georgeinstitute) August 13, 2024

Reading that, my embarrassment quickly turned to anger. How dare these brands trick busy parents like this? Given how strict Australian regulation is on things like formula and baby car seats, I know I am not alone when I assumed that baby food had also been held to some kind of standard. How wrong I was.

The thing is, packaging is so convincing. Some promise 'five serves of vegies', others promise 'only real fruit'. Usually I am grocery shopping with my baby — now toddler — and simply don't have time to investigate the ingredients and fine-print in detail. As a back-up, they felt like a reasonably affordable, easy option.

Thankfully, this industry is being cracked down on. These findings come amid a national review of infant food products by the Food Regulation Standing Committee, which is currently open to public consultation.

This news will certainly be hitting parents of babies and toddlers in the feels today, and I hope you aren't too hard on yourself.

Parenting in a modern world is tough. Having a stay-at-home parent who has the time to cook everything from scratch isn't the reality for most families (or the desire of most families), and we all got caught in the same clever marketing dupe.

There's no point dwelling on the past. I know for one, my son is happy and healthy, and supermarket baby food hasn't negatively affected him. In fact, he passed his 18-month check-up just last week with not a single concern from the GP on his progress. 

Honestly, I will probably still use it every now and then when I am in a bind. But I won't be reaching for it nearly as often.

Not until the food regulation committee has reshaped the industry. 

How are you feeling with the news that Australian supermarket baby food isn't as 'healthy' as it claims to be? Let us know in the comments below.

Feature image: Getty.