Gerber to Eliminate Baby Food Additives

Gerber Products Co., the dominant maker of baby foods in America, will stop adding starch and sugar to most of its main products in an effort to grab a bigger chunk of the health-conscious-parents market.

Gerber said the move, to be formally announced today, is unrelated to criticisms by a consumer advocacy group that the company diluted its baby foods with water, sugar and chemically modified starch and deceived the public about the foods’ nutritional value.

The company was “responding strictly to what their consumers want,” Gerber spokesman Van Hindes said Tuesday. He said research indicated a growing number of parents want products without the additives.

The change, which will take place over the next six months, primarily affects foods made for older infants and toddlers, the company said. Gerber foods for younger babies have never contained starch or sugar.

With the change, 121 of Gerber’s 190 baby food products won’t contain starch or sugar, the company said. Some foods for older children will.

Gerber is one of the oldest U.S. baby food processors. It was founded in 1901 and introduced baby food in 1928.

The company has dominated the baby food section at grocery stores for years. But it has lost ground in the last few to competitors with “healthy” baby food lines, including Beech-Nut, a unit of Ralcorp Holdings Inc.; H.J. Heinz Co.; and Earth’s Best, a line of organically grown baby foods purchased earlier this year by Heinz.

Gerber, based in Fremont, Mich., was acquired by the global health-care and nutrition company Sandoz of Basel, Switzerland, in August 1994 and sells Sandoz products in the United States.

According to Supermarket News, a trade publication, Gerber took a 64% share of the $1.25-billion domestic baby food market in the 12 months ended Dec. 9, down 4% from the year-ago period.

The Washington-based Center for Science in the Public Interest has filed complaints with the Federal Trade Commission accusing Gerber of false advertising and with the Food and Drug Administration over Gerber’s labeling.

“It’s conceivable that Gerber’s making its changes to try to position itself for a better settlement” of those matters, said Michael Jacobson, the group’s executive director.

But, he added, the change is “very good news for babies, and it would be even better if Gerber improved the nutritional content of all of its baby foods.”