Allowing children to eat well and grow strong is the wish of all parents. With the refinement and diversification of the market, the market has provided parents with more choices. Various foods for children are emerging in an endless stream. Children's soy sauce, children's noodles, children's biscuits... These foods that are under the banner of “children's special†are true. Suitable for children? Is it worthwhile for consumers to buy at high prices for children? With these questions, the "Workers' Daily" reporter conducted an investigation into the food market for children.
Scene: "Children's" favored by parents
A few days ago, the reporter went to the Rainbow Supermarket on Ziyang Avenue in Nanchang City and saw many special noodles for children in the noodle zone. Unlike common noodles, which are simply packaged in large pots, children's special noodles are small bags. Some brands of children's special noodles are even used as exquisite boxes. On the food bags, there are eye-catching words such as "children's high-calcium noodle", "baby multi-dimensional nutrition fortified spinach noodles", "egg-flavored children's noodles", and "carrot-flavored children's noodles".
"I usually buy some noodles labeled with high calcium and vitamins. Although, I'm not sure if I can really add calcium, but the price here should be more or less the same." The 7-year-old mother said.
At the price, a bag of 280g children's high-calcium noodle price of 11.8 yuan, while the ordinary noodles 600 grams only 8.9 yuan. In the case of equal weight, noodles with "children's special" are more than twice the price of ordinary noodles. Why is the price difference so great? According to supermarket guides, children's noodles have added many trace elements that help children's development, so the price is higher. Supermarket sales staff also revealed to reporters that the supermarkets had deliberately increased the number of children’s special foods for the past two years. Sales have always been good. Although prices are more expensive than ordinary foods, young parents are very buying.
In addition to children's noodles, the reporter observed that children's special seasonings are also favored by young parents. A bottle of 160ml Xinhe brand children organic soy sauce, priced at 26 yuan, then look at the side of the ordinary adult soy sauce, a bottle of 500ml priced at 9.9 yuan. Condiments in children's areas are generally about 3 times more expensive than regular seasonings. In spite of this, parents who come to purchase are still in an endless stream. "Since it is children's food, it should be less than ordinary food additives. In order to children's food safety, you are more expensive." Said a mother who is five-year-old child, choose seasonings.
Experts: "children's" are mostly marketing gimmicks
Is the food for children on the market really as nutritionally high as advertised? Does the child have any effect? To this end, the reporter consulted relevant parties and obtained the conclusion that there is nothing special about children's foods compared with adult foods. The reason why prices are so high is that they are mostly marketing gimmicks for businesses.
Zou Shipu, director of the Children's Hospital of the Children's Hospital of Jiangxi Province, told reporters that as parents, he wanted to give the best things to children. "Save your own points, but also let the children eat better." This consumer awareness is widespread in the hearts of the majority of parents. Therefore, some businesses have accurately grasped such business opportunities, so that the price of children's products is generally high.
Zou Shipu also told reporters that in terms of nutritional needs, foods eaten by children after the age of 3 are not significantly different from those of ordinary adults. Therefore, the requirements and regulations for the use of food additives in adult and adult foods are the same. Most children's foods do not differ much in composition from adult foods. Usually, they only replace large packages with exquisite small packages. Therefore, the price is higher or even several times higher than similar adult foods. For those foods marked with high calcium and trace elements, after the children eat it, can they really function as nutritional supplements and can hardly be certified. "A lot of children's foods are mostly selling concepts and they have no practical significance," said Zou Shipu.
Opinion: Blind purchase is harmful
"Unsuitable purchase of 'children's' foods can sometimes cause harm to children." Zou Shipu reminds parents that "if soy sauce is different from disposable foods, it cannot be used immediately by Kaifeng and it will have a longer period of storage. Time, if there are no preservatives, it must be preserved with high salt. Increasing the appetite of the child through seasoning may make the child more dependent on the seasoning and the taste becomes more and more heavy.†She told reporters It shows that when a child grows up, the more “heavily†it is, the harder it is to control the amount of salt after growing up, and the higher the risk of developing hypertension. Therefore, children's soy sauce is not only a marketing gimmick, but also harmful to the health of children.
Zou Shipu suggested that parents should buy better quality flour and noodles instead of expensive special-purpose noodles for children, and then add different flavors of vegetables according to their preferences to enrich the baby's diet. If you think that children can not keep up with nutrition, you may need to add trace elements, it is best to go to the hospital to do a nutritional monitoring, under the guidance of a doctor, for the child to point quantitative supplements.
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