Nutrition and marketing of baby and toddler food and drinks Baby Food FACTS Nutrition and marketing of baby and toddler food and drinks Authors: Jennifer L. Harris, PhD, MBA Frances Fleming-Milici, PhD Willie Frazier, MPH Karen Haraghey, MBA Svetlana Kalnova, PhD Maria Romo-Palafox, PhD, RD Nicole Seymour, MSW Gloriana Rodriguez-Arauz, MA Marlene B. Schwartz, PhD UConn Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity January 2017 Acknowledgements We would like to thank the following researchers for their valuable assistance in collecting data and preparing the report: Yoon-Young Choi Rebecca Heller Maia Hyary Whitney Hubbard Shani Legore Rebecca O’Brien Thank you to the experts who contributed their feedback and guidance in preparing this report, Dr. Valerie Duffy, Dr. Lori Dorfman, and Jennifer Pomeranz, and our colleagues at the Rudd Center, especially Daniel Jones, Sally Mancini, and Michelle Bates. We thank bernardesign for their assistance in preparing the report and Burness Communications for their communications support. Finally, we thank the leadership and staff at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, with special thanks to Mona Shah and the entire Healthy Children, Healthy Weight Team. Support for this project was provided by a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Table of Contents List of Tables .....................................................................................3 Ranking Tables ....................................................................................4 Appendix Tables ...................................................................................4 List of Figures ...................................................................................4 Executive Summary ..............................................................................5 Introduction .....................................................................................11 Results ..........................................................................................15 Baby food market ................................................................................. 15 Baby and toddler food ............................................................................15 Baby and toddelr drinks ...........................................................................18 Nutrition ........................................................................................ 19 Baby and toddler food ............................................................................19 Baby and toddelr drinks ...........................................................................22 Summary of baby and toddler nutrition . 25 Product packaging ................................................................................26 On-package marketing ...........................................................................26 Special issues in baby and toddler food and drink packaging .............................................32 Summary of product packaging ....................................................................36 Traditional media advertising .......................................................................37 Advertising spending .............................................................................37 TV advertising exposure ..........................................................................42 Advertising content analysis .......................................................................47 Summary of traditional advertising ...................................................................57 Digital media marketing ...........................................................................58 Company websites ...............................................................................58 Display advertising on third-party websites ............................................................59 Social media ....................................................................................61 Summary of digital marketing .......................................................................69 Advertising to Hispanic and black parents ............................................................71 Marketing to Hispanic parents ......................................................................71 Marketing to black parents .........................................................................78 Summary of marketing to Hispanic and black parents....................................................80 Conclusions ....................................................................................81 Endnotes .......................................................................................88 Ranking Tables ..................................................................................92 Methods .......................................................................................104 Appendix Tables ...............................................................................114 Baby FoodSnack FACTS FACTS 2 Results List of Tables Table 1. Key provisions of WHO guidance on marketing infant formula and baby food ........................ 13 Table 2. Baby and toddler food varieties and products by company and brand ............................. 16 Table 3. Baby and toddler food brand varieties by sub-category ......................................... 16 Table 4. Baby and toddler drink brands and varieties by company ....................................... 18 Table 5. Nutrition content and NPI score for baby and toddler food by category and sub-category .............. 19 Table 6. Nutrition of single baby food and toddler food versus whole fruits and vegetables ....................22 Table 7. Nutrition of baby and toddler pasta products versus other brands .................................23 Table 8. Nutrition of baby and toddler grain-based snacks versus other brands .............................23 Table 9. Nutrition content and NPI score for baby and toddler drink brands by category ......................24 Table 10. Comparison of toddler milk products and cow’s milk ............................................24 Table 11. On-package nutrition-related and child development messages by category ........................27 Table 12. Nutrition-related messages on product packaging by food brand and sub-category...................29 Table 13. Other marketing messages on product packages by food brand and category .......................30 Table 14. Other marketing messages on product packages by drink brand and category ......................32 Table 15. Agreement between product names and main ingredients by brand and category ....................34 Table 16. Total advertising spending by category: 2011-2015 ............................................37 Table 17. Advertising spending by media type: 2011-2015...............................................39 Table 18. TV advertising exposure for women and men by category, 2011 and 2015 ..........................42 Table 19. Baby food advertising by brand and variety...................................................45 Table 20. Toddler food advertising by brand and variety.................................................45 Table 21. Infant formula advertising spending by brand and variety........................................46 Table 22. Toddler milk advertising spending by brand and variety .........................................46 Table 23. Main selling point in baby and toddler food and drink ads .......................................47 Table 24. Summary of baby and toddler food advertisement content by brand ...............................49 Table 25. Summary of baby and toddler drink advertisement content by brand...............................52 Table 26. Third-party websites with the most advertising for baby and toddler food and drinks ..................60 Table 27. Proportion of banner ads viewed on retail, family/parenting and social media websites.................61 Table 28. Baby and toddler food and drink mentions on mom blogs .......................................67 Table 29. Spanish-language TV advertising spending by brand and variety: 2011-2015 ........................72 Table 30. Summary of Spanish-language TV and magazine advertising content by brand ......................73 Table 31. Spanish-language information on product packages............................................77 Table 32. Hispanic adults visiting company websites ...................................................77 Table 33. Black-targeted TV advertising spending by brand: 2011-2015 ....................................78 Table 34. TV ad exposure for black women by category: 2011-2015 .......................................79 Table 35. Black adults visiting company websites ......................................................79 Table 36. Expert recommendations for feeding infants and young children ..................................81 Table 37. Nutrition content and marketing of baby and toddler food brands .................................83 Baby Food FACTS 3 Results Ranking Tables 1. Nutritional content of baby food..................................................................92 2. Nutritional content of toddler food ................................................................94 3. Marketing messages on product packages ........................................................96 4. Advertising spending..........................................................................97 5. Television advertising exposure for women.........................................................98