This very interesting article was in the Herald Sun on the weekend, and brought attention to how important tomato sauce is in Australian culture. But people need to be aware of the sugar and salt content before giving it to their children ‘willy-nilly’.
Mums warned about feeding children tomato sauce
UP TO 60 per cent of Australian mums use tomato sauce to help kids eat, sparking health warnings from child nutritionists.
The revelation about Australia’s iconic condiment was discovered after 1000 Australian women were surveyed in a study commissioned by Fountain Sauce.
And almost 70 per cent of mothers said their kids would not eat sausages or chips without it and a whopping 80 per cent of households said they used tomato sauce on a meal at least once a week.
Hampton mother Kelly Plasto said her three-year-old Tessa inherited a love of tomato sauce from her husband Sean, and her daughter even pours it on dessert.
“She likes it on sweet things like cupcakes and pancakes, which is really weird,” Ms Plasto said.
“She gets it from my husband, he eats it with almost every meal and she calls it dip dip sauce because she dips everything in it.
“I worry about what is in it because I know it can be full of sugar, but it’s the only way I can get her to eat.”
Unlike Ms Plasto, most Australian mums do not consider what was in the bottle, according to the study.
Only 40 per cent of mums correctly guessed the salt content in every squeeze and nutritionist Caitlin Reid said parents should be more aware of the hidden salt and sugar content.
“Reading the food labels and looking for products lower in sugar and salt can help us choose better products that meet our nutritional needs,” Ms Reid said.
Read more at heraldsun.com.au.
Does your family eat a lot of tomato sauce? Or none at all? Do any families out there go as far as to name tomato sauce as a ‘sometimes food’?
Tags: salt content, sometimes foods, sugar content, tomato sauce
