CCF products
Overall, 1057 CCF products of 27 brands were identified (one to 210 products per brand), produced by 21 companies. Of these, 829 CCF products (78 %) were declared for infants, 228 (22 %) products were declared for toddlers (Table 1).
Complete meals made up about one third of infant CCF (Table 1). Among complete meals, more than half were menus (Table 1). Most menus were made with meat (n=98, 54.5 % of menus), followed by vegetarian menus (n=50, 27.7 %) and fish-menus (n=17, 9.4 %). Fifteen menus (8.3 %) were declared as ‘soups’ (data not shown).
Milk-cereals-meals were offered as instant products to be prepared with water (n=49, 57.6 % of milk-cereal-meals) or as ready to eat meals in jars (N=30, 35.3 %). Six products (7.1 %) were offered as drink-meals (data not shown).
Cereal-fruit-meals accounted for around 20 % of complete meals (Table 1).
Among meal components, fruit products accounted for around half of the products (Table 1). The majority of fruit products were made from pure fruits, either single fruits (n=20, 14.6 % of fruit products) or a mix of fruit types (N=89, 65.0 %). Some fruit products were mixed with dairy (N=25, 18.2 % of fruit products) or vegetables (n=3, 2.2 %) (data not shown).
Among vegetable products, single vegetables (n=21, 33.3 %) or mixtures from different types of vegetables (n=19, 30.2 %) accounted for one third of the products. Some vegetables were mixed with potatoes (n=18, 28.6 %) or fruits (n=5, 7.9 %) (data not shown).
Infant cereals accounted for around 10 % of infants’ CCF. Meat, oil, and fish were the meal components with the lowest number of products (Table 1).
The majority of snacks were pouches, followed by snack foods and desserts (Table 1).
Among pouches, three products were made only from vegetables (2.7 %), the other pouches were prepared from fruits (n=42, 37.8%) or mixtures of fruits with dairy (n=9, 8.1 %), vegetables (n=22, 19.8 %) or cereals (N=35, 31.8 %) (data not shown).
Of beverages (Table 1), around two thirds were teas or mixtures from juice and water or tea (n=33, 61.1 %), 21 products (38.9 %) were pure juices (data not shown).
The majority of infant CCF was declared for younger ages (“after 4 months”/”from the age of 5 months”), only 13 % of infant CCF was declared as “from the 10th to 12th months” (Table 1).
Snack foods (n=77, 33.8 %) were the predominant category among toddlers’ CCF, followed by pouches (n=60, 26.3 %), menus (n=40, 17.5 %) and beverages (n=26, 11.4 %). Six products (2.6 %) were categorized as desserts. Toddlers’ cereals (referred to as mueslis, n=12, 5.3 %), noodles (n=2, 0.9 %) and sauces (n=5, 2.2%) accounted for less than 10 % of toddlers’ CCF, respectively. Of toddlers’ menus, six products (15.0%) were vegetarian menus and three products were prepared with fish (7.5 %) (data not shown).
Table 1. Product categories and declared age of infants’ commercial complementary foods, results of a 2020 market survey in Germany
Product category
|
Total 1
|
After 4th month/from the age of 5 months
|
After 6th/7th month
|
After 8th/9th month
|
After 10th/12th month
|
|
N (%) 1
|
N (%) 2
|
N (%) 2
|
N (%) 2
|
N (%) 2
|
Complete Meals (N=328)
|
|
|
|
|
Menus
|
180 (21.7)
|
38 (21.1)
|
21 (11.7)
|
65 (36.1)
|
56 (31.1)
|
Milk-Cereal-Meals
|
85 (10.3)
|
25 (29.4)
|
41 (48.2)
|
10 (11.8)
|
9 (10.6)
|
Cereal-Fruit-Meals
|
63 (7.6)
|
19 (30.2)
|
28 (44.4)
|
11 (17.5)
|
5 (7.9)
|
Meal Components (N=288)
|
|
|
|
|
Fruit
|
137 (16.5)
|
93 (78.9)
|
22 (16.1)
|
6 (4.4)
|
16 (11.7)
|
Cereals
|
68 (8.2)
|
38 (55.9)
|
20 (29.4)
|
4 (5.9)
|
6 (8.8)
|
Vegetables
|
63 (7.6)
|
53 (84.1)
|
10 (15.9)
|
-
|
-
|
Meat
|
12 (1.4)
|
10 (83.3)
|
2 (16.7)
|
-
|
-
|
Fish
|
2 (0.2)
|
1 (50)
|
1 (50)
|
|
|
Oil
|
6 (0.7)
|
6 (100)
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
Snacks (N=159)
|
|
|
|
|
Pouches
|
111 (13.4)
|
12 (10.8)
|
78 (70.3)
|
14 (12.6)
|
7 (6.3)
|
Snack foods
|
43 (5.2)
|
-
|
8 (18.6)
|
32 (74.4)
|
3 (7.0)
|
Desserts
|
5 (0.6)
|
-
|
1 (20.0)
|
-
|
4 (80.0)
|
Beverages (N=54)
|
|
|
|
|
Tea, water, juices
|
54 (6.5)
|
45 (83.3)
|
6 (11.1)
|
1 (1.9)
|
2 (3.7)
|
Total
|
829 (100)
|
340 (41.0)
|
238 (28.7)
|
143 (17.3)
|
108 (13.0)
|
1 Percentage of all products
2 Percentage of the respective product category
Table 2. Declared energy and nutrient contents per 100 g of commercial complementary food products for infants and toddlers, results of a 2020 market survey in Germany 1
Product category
(n)
|
Energy
(kcal)
|
Protein
(g)
|
Fett
(g)
|
SFA
(g)
|
Carbohydrates
(g)
|
Total sugar
(g)
|
Salt
(mg)
|
Infants
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Complete meals
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Menus
(n=180)
|
66
(61;70)
|
2.5
(22.2; 2.8)
|
2.4
(1.9; 2.8)
|
0.5
(0.4; 0.7)
|
7.7
(7.0; 8.7)
|
2.1
(1.6; 2.5)
|
0.08
(0.05; 0.03)
|
Milk-cereal-meals
(n=85)
|
92
(76;103)
|
3.0
(2.6; 3.5)
|
2.5
(2.2; 2.9)
|
0.9
(0.7; 1.1)
|
14.0
(11.0; 16.1)
|
6.3
(4.8; 7.3)
|
0.08
(0.07; 0.09)
|
Fruit-Cereal-meals
(n=63)
|
66
(60; 72)
|
1.0
(0.8; 1.1)
|
0.4
(0.3; 0.6)
|
0.1
(0.0; 0.2)
|
13.6
(11.9; 15.0)
|
9.6
(7.6; 10.8)
|
0.03
(0.01; 0.05)
|
Meal components
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fruits
(n=137)
|
57
(52; 62)
|
0.5
(0.4; 0.7)
|
0.2
(0.1; 0.5)
|
0.0
(0.0; 0.2)
|
11.8
(11.1; 13.0)
|
10.1
(9.1; 10.8)
|
0.05
(0.01; 0.05)
|
Cereals
(n=68)
|
376
(363; 388)
|
11.0
(9.3; 12.5)
|
3.2
(2.1; 4.5)
|
0.7
(0.5; 0.9)
|
70.0
(6.9; 78.1)
|
1.5
(0.8; 5.7)
|
0.01
(0.01; 0.03)
|
Vegetables
(n=63)
|
41
(31; 54)
|
0.9
(0.7; 1.2)
|
1.2
(0.2; 1.8)
|
0.1
(0.0; 0.2)
|
6.5
(5.0; 7.5)
|
2.6
(2.0; 3.8)
|
0.05
(0.02; 0.08)
|
Meat
(n=12)
|
102
(90; 108)
|
8.1
(7.8; 8.9)
|
4.6
(3.1; 5.8)
|
1.7
(1.0; 2.1)
|
6.0
(4.7; 6.4)
|
0.0
(0.0; 0.2)
|
0.07
(0.04; 0.08)
|
Pouches
(n=111)
|
63
(54; 72)
|
0.8
(0.6; 1.1)
|
0.5
(0.3; 0.6)
|
0.1
(0.1; 0.2)
|
12.0
(11.0; 14.0)
|
9.9
(8.1; 12.0)
|
0.01
(0.01; 0.05)
|
Snack foods
(n=43)
|
390
(370; 429)
|
8.0
(6.9; 10.0)
|
4.4
(0.9; 11.0)
|
0.8
(0.2; 1.5)
|
76.0
(70.0; 82.0)
|
7.5
(2.7; 13.0)
|
0.03
(0.01; 0.05)
|
Table 2 (continued)
Product category
(n)
|
Energy
(kcal)
|
Protein
(g)
|
Fett
(g)
|
SFA
(g)
|
Carbohydrates
(g)
|
Total sugar
(g)
|
Salt
(mg)
|
Desserts
(n=5)
|
84
(82; 84)
|
3.5
(3.0; 3.6)
|
2.7
(1.7; 3.1)
|
1.2
(1.1; 1.7)
|
12.4
(11.8; 13.1)
|
8.4
(8.4; 8.6)
|
0.13
(0.10; 0.13)
|
Beverages 2
(n=44)
|
30
(20; 47)
|
0.2
(0.0; 0.5)
|
0.1
(0.0; 0.2)
|
0.0
(0.0; 0.0)
|
6.5
(4.8; 10.9)
|
6.2
(4.4; 9.8)
|
0.05
(0.01; 0.05)
|
Toddler
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Menu
(n=40)
|
70
(67; 75)
|
2.6
(2.5; 2.9)
|
2.4
(2.3; 2.6)
|
0.5
(0.4; 0.8)
|
8.8
(8.2; 9.8)
|
1.6
(1.4; 1.9)
|
0.43
(0.36; 0.48)
|
Cereals
(n=12)
|
370
(35; 377)
|
11.1
(10.5; 12.2)
|
5.6
(3.8; 5.9)
|
1.0
(0.7; 1.2)
|
63.1
(90.7; 67.7)
|
8.5
(6.3; 10.8)
|
0.01
(0.01; 0.05)
|
Pouches
(n=60)
|
59
(55; 64)
|
0.6
(0.4; 0.8)
|
0.4
(0.2; 0.5)
|
0.0
(0.0; 0.2)
|
12.0
(11.3; 12.9)
|
10.8
(10.1; 11.5)
|
0.05
(0.01; 0.05)
|
Snack foods
(n=77)
|
383
(366; 416)
|
5.7
(4.4; 7.6)
|
8.6
(6.6; 13.7)
|
2.0
(0.9; 3.6)
|
69.0
(64.8; 72.0)
|
28.8
(12.1; 41.0)
|
0.05
(0.03; 0.15)
|
Desserts
(n=6)
|
84
(82; 90)
|
3.2
(3.1; 3.6)
|
2.3
(1.7; 3.3)
|
1.7 (1.2; 2.2)
|
12.4
(11.7; 13.3)
|
8.4
(7.4; 8.6)
|
0.12
(0.08; 0.15)
|
Beverages 2
(n=25)
|
18
(16; 21)
|
0.0
(0.0; 0.1)
|
0.1
(0.0; 0.1)
|
0.0
(0.0; 0.0)
|
3.8
(3.5; 4.5)
|
3.5
(3.1; 4.2)
|
0.05
(0.05; 0.05)
|
Values are median (Quartile 1, Quartile 3), SFA=saturated fatty acids
1 due to the small number of products, product categories oil and fish were not shown
2 Excluding instant teas and bagged teas, missing values for salt content in beverages: n=3 (infant products) and n= 6 (toddler products)
Energy and Nutrient Contents
Energy content was highest in infants’ or toddlers’ snack foods. Highest protein content was found in cereals. Maximum fat content was found in toddlers’ snack foods and cereals. Saturated fatty acids exceeded 1.5 g/100 g only in meat products, and in toddlers’ snack foods and desserts. Snack foods and cereals, both for infants and toddlers, had the highest carbohydrate contents (> 60 g/100 g). Total sugar content was around 10 g/100 g in fruit-cereal-meals, fruits, and pouches, and nearly 30 g/100 g in toddlers’ snack foods. Except toddlers’ menus and desserts, salt content was < 0.9 g/100 g (Table 2).
Expressed as % of energy, highest protein content was found in meat products, followed by menus for infants and toddlers and toddlers’ desserts. Carbohydrate content was lowest in meat (20.6%). In all other product groups carbohydrates provided between around 50 % and 90 % of energy content. In meat products, cereals and toddlers’ menus, contribution of sugar to energy content was less than 10 %. More than 50 %E sugar was found in pouches, beverages, cereal fruit meals, and fruits (Figure 1).
Fortification
Around one third of infants’ CCF products and one quarter of toddlers’ products were fortified with nutrients. Highest fortification prevalence among infants’ CCF was found in cereals, milk-cereal-menus, snack foods and beverages. In toddlers’ CCF, cereals was the category with the highest prevalence of fortification, followed by snack foods and pouches. Vitamin B1 (thiamin) was the most frequently fortified nutrient, followed by vitamin C, iron, calcium, and vitamin D (Table 3).
Table 3. Nutrient fortification1 in commercial complementary foods (CCF), results of a 2020 market survey in Germany 2
Product category
(N)
|
Total
N (%)
|
Vitamin B1
N (%)
|
Vitamin C
N (%)
|
Iron
N (%)
|
Calcium
N (%)
|
Vitamin D
N (%)
|
Iodine
N (%)
|
Infants’ CCF (829)
|
264 (31.9)
|
185 (22.3)
|
91 (11.0)
|
63 (7.6)
|
61 (7.4)
|
59 (7.1)
|
32 (3.9)
|
Menus (180)
|
22 (12.2)
|
-
|
-
|
22 (12.2)
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
Milk-cereal-meal (85)
|
79 (92.9)
|
77 (90.6)
|
33 (38.8)
|
36 (42.4)
|
57 (67.1)
|
57 (67.1)
|
32 (37.7)
|
Cereal fruit meal (63)
|
11 (17.5)
|
7 (11.1)
|
5 (7.9)
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
Fruits (137)
|
25 (18.3)
|
4 (2.9)
|
22 (16.1)
|
-
|
4 (2.9)
|
-
|
-
|
Cereals (68)
|
68 (100.0)
|
68 (100.0)
|
1 (1.5)
|
1 (1.5)
|
-
|
1 (1.5)
|
-
|
Vegetables
|
2 (1.8)
|
-
|
1 (1.6)
|
2 (3.2)
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
Pouches
|
2 (1.8)
|
-
|
2 (1.8)
|
|
|
|
|
Snack foods (43)
|
28 (67.4)
|
28 (65.1)
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
Desserts
|
1 (20 %)
|
1 (20-0)
|
1
|
-
|
-
|
1 (20.0)
|
-
|
Beverages (54)
|
26 (48.2)
|
-
|
26 (48.2)
|
2 (3.7)
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
Toddlers’ CCF (228)
|
53 (23.3)
|
30 (13.2)
|
16 (7.0)
|
9 (4.0)
|
2 (0.9)
|
-
|
-
|
Menus (23)
|
3 (13.0)
|
-
|
-
|
3 (13.0)
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
Cereals (12)
|
11 (91.7)
|
11 (91.7)
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
Snack foods (77)
|
21 (27.3)
|
18 (23.3)
|
-
|
4 (5.2)
|
1 (1.3
|
-
|
-
|
Pouches (60)
|
15 (25 %)
|
-
|
15 (25)
|
2 (3.3)
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
Beverages (26)
|
2 (7.7)
|
-
|
1 (3.9)
|
-
|
1 (3.9)
|
-
|
-
|
Pasta (2)
|
1 (14.3)
|
1 (14.3)
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
Total (1057)
|
317 (30.0)
|
215 (20.3)
|
107 (10.1)
|
72 (6.8)
|
63 (6.0)
|
59 (5.6)
|
32 (3.0)
|
1 Fortification with vitamin B2, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, vitamin K, niacin, biotin, zinc, pantothenic acid: < 1 % of products, fortification with vitamin E, folate < 3 % of products; no fortified products found among oils, meat, fish
2 Percentage of fortified products in this category
CCF with cereals (i.e. milk cereal meals, fruit cereal meals and cereals) were the categories most often fortified with vitamin B1, products with fruits (i.e. fruits, beverages, pouches) and milk-cereal-meals with vitamin C. Infant menus and milk-cereal-meals were the categories most often fortified with iron. Milk-cereal-meals were also most often fortified with calcium and vitamin D, and the only category fortified with iodine (Table 3).
Ingredients
Apple was the type of fruit listed most often in products with fruits, whereas carrot was the most frequent vegetable among CCF with vegetables. Poultry (e.g. chicken, turkey) was the most frequent meat. Only two species were used for fish products (salmon and pollack). Four of five infants’ and toddlers’ menus and vegetables were prepared with added oil, predominately rapeseed oil (Table 4). In 78 products (27.6 %), a combination of rapeseed oil and other oils was used (data not shown).
Sweeteners (i.e. sugar, honey, syrup, juice) were used in 233 products (23.8 % of all CCF products, excluding beverages, n=977). Juice was the sweetener used most often (n=195, 83.7 % of sweetened products), followed by sugar (n=38, 16.3 %), honey and rice syrup (both n=3, 1.3 %) (data not shown). Other sweetener, e.g. glucose, fructose, high fructose corn syrup were not found in CCF.
Among cereal-based products, whole grains were listed as ingredients in 139 products (61.0 %) (data not shown).
Salt was added in n=62 infants’ menus (34.4 % of all menus), always as iodized salt. Four infants’ pouches were prepared with an oat mixture with added sea salt (3.6 %). In toddlers’ menus, 80% (n=32) of products were prepared with added iodized salt, two further products with sea salt (11.7 %). Two toddlers’ snack foods were prepared with iodized salt and sea salt, respectively (each 2.4 %) (data not shown).
Flavors, herbs or spices were used in 190 products (18.0 % of all CCF). Vanilla (n=35, 18.4 % of flavored products) was used in milk-cereal-meals (n=16), toddlers’ CCF (n=10) and desserts (n=5). Seventeen products (8.9 %) contained cacao, predominantly milk-cereal-meals and snack foods. Six products were flavored with cinnamon and five beverages (teas) were flavored with aroma. Herbs (e.g. parsley, basil, oregano, marjoram, thyme, lovage, dill) were listed as ingredients in 58 infants’ or toddler’ menus, curry, turmeric and/or ginger in seven products (data not shown).
Table 4. The most frequent ingredients (types of fruits, vegetable, meat, fish, and fat/oil) in commercial complementary foods for infants and toddlers, results of a 2020 market survey in Germany
Product categories
|
Most frequently1 listed ingredients
|
Type of fruits1 in fruit-cereal-meals, fruit products, fruit pouches, milk-cereal-meals in jars (n=398 products)
|
Apple n=285 (71.6 %), banana n=178 (44.7 %), pear n=100 (25.1 %), berries n=89 (22.4 %), mango n= 65 (16.3 %), peach n=53 (13.3 %), apricot n= 24 (6.0 %), grape n=31 (7.8 %)
|
Type of vegetables1 in menus, vegetables and vegetable pouches (n=308 products)
|
Carrots n=234 (76.0 %), tomato n= 118 (38.3 %), onions n=125 (40.6 %), parsnip n= 54 (17.5 %), zucchini n= 47 (15.3 %), pea n=44 (14.3 %), corn n= 37 (12.0 %), pepper n = 24 (7.8 %), spinach n = 24 (7.8 %), broccoli n=21 (6.8 %), leek n= 20 (6.5 %), celery n = 17 (5.5 %),
|
Type of meat menus and meat products (n=142)
|
Poultry n= 67 (47.2 %), beef n= 59 (41.6 %), pork n= 15 (10.6 %)
|
Type of fish in fish-menus and fish-jars (n=23)
|
Salmon n=14 (60.9 %), pollack n=9 (39.1 %)
|
Type of added fat/oil in menus and vegetable products (n=283)
|
Rapeseed oil n=210 (74.2), sunflower oil n=67 (23.7 %), corn germ oil n= 36 (12.7 %)
|
1 listed in ≥ 5 % of products