House bills ban sale of baby food with sugar

Two lawmakers want to stop the sale and manufacture of baby food containing sugar, citing a World Health Organization warning on the bad effects of adding sugar to the diet of infants, which include obesity and diabetes. Cavite Rep. Crispin Diego Remulla and Caloocan City Rep. Mary Mitzi Cajayon-Uy filed House Bills (HB) Nos. 10119 and 10169, both titled No-Added Sugar on Baby Foods Act, which seek to ensure good nutrition for babies’ optimal growth and development. Violators face imprisonment of up to five years on top of a fine of up to P500,000. Remulla explained that HB 10119 called for “strictly prohibiting the addition of sugar to baby foods, a direct response to the escalating concerns over the rising rates of childhood obesity and its associated health complications in the country.” Cajayon-Uy, on the other hand, said the 2021 Expanded National Nutrition Survey reported “only 13.8 percent of children 6 to 23 months received the minimum acceptable diet for their optimal growth and development.” —JEANNETTE I. ANDRADE