We believe that children’s food must:

Because of their growing bodies the diets of children in the first five years of life need to be, and are, very different to those of adults. Fewer foods are eaten, and foods are eaten in greater quantities in proportion to their weight.

Children need nutrient-rich foods and a balanced diet. A poor diet will have a harmful effect on their ability to learn, their behaviour, the functioning of their body systems, and their overall health. And with the increases in diseases that we do not understand, such as asthma, all children need diets that will protect them from environmental hazards.

Through providing food for a child, a parent influences their sense of taste and smell, their health, and their overall enjoyment of eating.

• Children’s foods should be free of low-nutrient processed fillers such as starches, maltodextrin and rusk. These are cheap to use, dull flavour and take up the space of real foods.
• Children’s food should be free of all added sugars, glucose, and fructose. These damage the special teeth of children, disguise the taste of cheaper ingredients and indicate a lack of presence of real foods, like fruit, in the product. Fresh, unrefined, organic food is the best choice for children.
• Small, regular meals rich in protein, whole grains, vegetables and fruits will provide the best nutrition.
• Drinks should be restricted as far as possible to water and milk, and to fruit juices with meals.
• Snacks are best if they are just fruits or sugar and sweetener-free yoghurts and baked products.

The organs and metabolic systems of children are immature at birth. A child’s nervous system is not fully developed until around sever years of age. During these first few years children eat very large quantities of food to fuel and provide for rapid growth. The liver and kidneys – the main organs for neutralising toxins – are not fully developed until around the age of four – making young children especially vulnerable to toxic chemical residues in food, water or air. There is strong evidence that toxins are ore harmful to children than adults, impacting on the development of their nervous, reproductive and immune systems.

• Food for babies and young children up to the age of seven should be 100% organic.
• Chemicals such as colourings and flavourings must be banned from all foods marketed to children of primary school age and under.
• Pesticides must not be used to control weeds in school playgrounds or in public places where children play.

Children are often unwitting ‘guinea pigs’ as society experiments with pesticides or genetically modified organisms. This cannot be right. Parents must have the right to information that allow them to make informed choices about the exposure of their children to these areas of risk.

Although food labelling is a minefield of legislation, with competing groups fighting to provide more or less information, it is especially vital that children do not suffer as a result of poor information.

Parents and carers must have a right to know:

• The level of children’s exposure to pesticides and other harmful chemicals on their food. Each year the government should provide an accurate assessment of the doses of chemical and pesticide residues that children are receiving from exposure to all chemicals through food, water, school and gardens.
• The effect of chemicals and pesticides on children. Scientists should be working more urgently on the health effects of long term exposure to pesticides and other toxic chemicals on children. Very little is known about the effects of chronic and mixed exposure to these chemicals on the nervous, immune or reproductive systems of young children, or the health consequences of exposure to the complex chemical mixtures that children encounter every day.
• What foods contain. For foods that are designed and marketed as being suitable for children:

• The full percentage of each ingredient in that food.
• An explanation of what each ingredient is, if it is not clear (eg the full name of each E-number).
• The full nutritional breakdown to include Energy, Protein, Fat, Saturated Fat, Carbohydrates, Sugar, Fibre and Sodium.
• If the food contains any ingredients that has been treated with pesticides during the course of its planting, growing, harvesting, storage or processing.
• Whether the food contains any ingredients, including flavourings, preservatives, and other ingredients that is genetically modified.

Dr Vyvyan Howard, MB ChB PhD FRCPath

Suzannah Olivier, Nutritionist

Mary Daly, Health Professional Advisor, Organix

Lizzie Vann, Founder, Organix Brands (Baby Organix)

To find out more about Organix, their foods and policies click on www.organixfavourites.co.uk