Food pouches designed for weaning have been found to contain higher levels of than it states on their pack labelling.

Some of the products from the brand Little Freddie contained as much as double the amount of sugar listed in information. Laboratory testing seen by trade magazine found nine out of 12 Little Freddie’s stage one fruit pouches for babies aged six months and upwards contained more sugar than what was declared on the label.

Eurofins Scientific, which did the testing, found the Little Freddie stage one products tested were on average 40% higher than the declared sugar value and 11% higher than the upper tolerance limit provided by food labelling regulations.

Sugar levels in four of the products, Banana & Raspberry Coconut Yoghurt; Peaches & Raspberries; Pink Lady Apple The Banana & Raspberry Coconut Yoghurt pouch stated to have 6.4g per 100g. Peaches & Raspberries is 5.6g per 100g, Pink Lady Apple Yoghurt is 5.3g per 100g, and Coconut & Summer Berries is 6.9g per 100g.

However, the testing found the packs actually contained 10.2g, 10.4g, 9.7g, and 10.3g per 100g respectively.

Eurofins Scientific also tested Peaches & Raspberries, Pink Lady Apple Yoghurt and Coconut & Summer Berries again using different batches bought on different dates, which showed similarly high results.

Rival products from Ella’s Kitchen and Piccolo typically contain higher levels of sugar per 100g than stated on the Little Freddie pouches. Their products were also tested by Eurofins Scientific - five for each - with all 10 found to be in line with their stated labelling.

Food labelling rules are covered in the UK by EU Regulation No 1169/2011, which states information on pack must be accurate, easy to see and understand, not misleading, and indelible.

Of the 12 Little Freddie products tested, only three (Prune Yoghurt with Oats; Prunes & Apples; and Pink Lady Apples) were found to be compliant with this.

Although the regulation recognises it is not always possible for foods to contain exact nutrient levels labelled due to the fact natural variations from production and storage do occur, it says nutritional content “should not deviate substantially from labelled values to the extent that such deviations could lead to consumers being misled”.

One industry source told The Grocer: “A product that claims to contain even close to 5g of sugar per 100g should raise eyebrows. It is just not possible to produce a fruit pouch with such a low level. Questions should have been raised at the production stage.”

advise states that babies no not need to ingest sugar, while recent research published in the journal Science, found that cutting sugar in the first 1,000 days of a baby’s life protected them against diabetes and high in adulthood.

Little Freddie launched in 2018 and is now sold across major in the UK. The firm did not respond to a Grocer request for comment.