Two Canadian consumer groups have hit out at Nestle over the “inappropriately high” levels of salt contained in its Gerber Graduates ‘Lil Entrees toddler meals.
The Canadian Stroke Network and the Advanced Foods & Materials Network awarded Gerber toddler meals their annual “salt lick” award and claimed the Gerber Graduates Chicken & Pasta Wheel Pickups contained the same amount of salt as “two orders of medium McDonald’s Fries”.
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According to the pressure groups, the Gerber ‘Lil Entrees meal, which Nestle said is aimed at children one-year-old and upwards and is “specially made for toddlers,” contained 550 mg of sodium – more than half a toddler’s adequate daily intake.
However, Dr. Andrea Papamandjaris, head of Nestle’s medical and scientific unit, said that the amount of salt listed on the Gerber ‘Lil Entrees products was “overstated”.
“Current packages of Gerber ‘Lil Entrees over-state the sodium level as they include the sodium contained in the brine surrounding the vegetables which is not consumed. The package includes instructions to drain the brine before serving. This is currently being corrected and new packaging will be on-shelf in July reflecting the sodium levels for the consumed food only.”
According to Dr Papamandjaris, the brine accounts for between 19% and 33% of the sodium level, depending on the recipe.
“Beyond this clarification we are actively working to decrease the sodium level in our six Gerber ‘Lil Entrees products to an acceptable level and we assure our consumers that this is receiving the highest priority,” Dr Papamandjaris said.
“Reducing sodium is a key priority for our six Gerber ‘Lil Entrees products,” he insisted.
