www.grub4life.com reports: - Toddlers and young children require three age-appropriate meals plus two nutritious snacks a day. They also need a diet that is higher in fat and lower in fibre than older children and adults with the avoidance of too much salt, sugar and artificial sweeteners. They like independent feeding in bite sized pieces, and exploring food with interesting flavours and crunchy textures. Unfortunately, off the shelf snacks are often full of sugar, salt and fat.
08-04-2010
The Benjoy range has been created from the inside out, to meet nutritional goals, incorporating foods that are naturally rich in nutrients, for example anti-oxidants, calcium, iron and omega-3 fatty acids. The objective was to prepare nutrient-dense foods wherever possible, in child appropriate portion sizes.
As there are no strict GDAs (Guideline Daily Amount) for under fives for parents or manufacturers to work to, the Benjoy™ team worked on current UK Recommended Nutrient Intake Levels for Children within this age group. The team used these as a basis to establish their own Benjoy parameters regarding the nutritional composition of the range.
A commitment was made that each Benjoy™ snack should provide one fifth of the daily requirements based on one to six year olds, so each snack should contain no more than 10g total fat, 3g saturated fat, 7g sugar (preferably less) and 400mgs salt (preferably less)
Prepared by Dr Carina Venter, Benjoy™’s Head of Nutrition and Nutrition Consultants Sian Shepherd and Sally Child, the Benjoy™ Manual is a valuable tool for parents and will be available on the Benjoy™ website at www.benjoynutrition.co.uk. It takes the formal dietary guidelines for children aged one to five as set out by the Food Standards Agency, Department of Health and British Dietetic Association, and presents these in a handbook for parents to use in everyday decisions for feeding their children a healthy diet.
Benjoy’s founder Michelle Daniells is a business development professional and mum of a toddler who, like all toddlers, loved snacks. Not happy with the nutritional value, variety, packaging and availability of foods and drinks available for her child, Michelle was confident there was a gap in the market for her healthier, more convenient children’s foods. She also saw the potential for a new, trusted brand which would become synonymous with nutritional value for children aged one to five – the age also known as ‘the forgotten years’.
The Benjoy range consists of seven carefully selected savoury and sweet snacks, with further new product development planned in the near future. More information at www.benjoynutrition.co.uk
