Nutrition Facts for Toddler Product

Situation

An entrepreneurial couple was starting a fresh business with their home-made recipes. They knew they needed nutrition facts, ingredient listings and allergen cautions for product labels on their new range of baby and toddler food.

Problem

The client had never manufactured a packaged food product before and needed full guidance on the FDA regulations as well as suggestions for ingredients suited to baby and toddler menus. Additionally, the nutrition facts panels have a different layout for children under 4 years of age. These panels also require additional calculations to demonstrate the protein content will meet the needs of growing bodies.  FDA regulations also limit the nutrition and health claims that may be made on products targeted to babies and toddlers.

Solution

Knowledge Bank worked with the couple and their chef to list all ingredients and their sub-components. This was input to a software database to prepare the basic Nutrition Facts panels for the proper size of their packaging. Each recipe with protein-based ingredients was further compared for protein quality to a reference protein source. This allowed the protein declaration on the Nutrition Facts panel to be adjusted.  The final ingredient list was prepared in descending order according to regulations followed by the proper listing of any of the eight major allergens.  Additionally, the client was advised as to which claims met FDA regulations for use in brochures, web-site copy or on the front of the package.  The information was also provided in a format suitable for the customer support staff to utilize as well as for ease in web-publishing.

Benefits

The client was able to launch 9 products in time for a major media blitz and trade show with labels that showed their clean ingredient list. Client was able to answer customer inquiries about the nutrients in each product as well as any concerns for allergens such as gluten, nut, or dairy. Using the software database to create the basic Nutrition Facts panels saved the client over $6,000 in laboratory costs for the 9 products.

For more information, contact Debra Topham, Director with Knowledge Bank, at 714-642-5100 or visit www.knowledge-bank.net.