DutchNews.nl - DutchNews.nl brings daily news from The Netherlands in English

19 October 2025
Newsletter Donate Advertise
  • News
  • Life in the Netherlands
  • Jobs
  • Podcast
  • About us
  • Search
  • Home
  • Economy
  • Election 2025
  • Art and culture
  • Sport
  • Europe
  • Society
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Housing
  • Education
  • News
    • Home
    • Economy
    • Election 2025
    • Art and culture
    • Sport
    • Europe
    • Society
    • Environment
    • Health
    • Housing
    • Education
  • Life in the Netherlands
    • Latest
    • Opinion
    • Books
    • Travel
    • 10 Questions
    • Learning Dutch
    • Inburgering with DN
    • Food & Drink
    • Ask us anything
  • Jobs
  • Podcast
  • About us
    • Team
    • Donate
    • Advertise
    • Writing for Dutch News
    • Contact us
    • Privacy
    • Newsletter
  • Search

Most supermarket food aimed at children is bad for them: Unicef

September 1, 2020
There are clear laws on fair pricing Photo: Depositphotos.com
Photo: Depositphotos.com

Almost three quarters of all Dutch supermarket food products aimed at children are bad for them, children’s charity Unicef says in a report out on Tuesday.

Unicef looked at over 2,000 products for children, including breakfast cereals, desserts and drinks to see if they had a place in the government’s healthy eating recommendations.

Most products turned out to to have too many calories, contain too much salt, sugar and saturated fats or were too low in fiber. Unicef also found that supermarkets showed ‘no reticence’ when it comes to promoting unhealthy products for children, particularly through the use of popular cartoon characters.

Some 16% of children and teenagers in the Netherlands are overweight and 3% are considered to be obese.

Of the food aimed at babies and toddlers only a third complies with the guidelines, the researchers found. Only one out of 39 breakfast cereals was found to be good for children and of the 865 bread spreads aimed at children, a whopping 829 were found to be unhealthy. None of the desserts were complied with the diet recommendations.

It is the first time Dutch products aimed at children have been investigated on this scale.

‘The fact that three quarters of the products do not comply with the recommended diet is shocking,’ Unicef NL director Suzanna Laszlo told the AD. ‘Many children eat too much of what they don’t need and too little of what they do need. That can cause obesity and diabetes.’ Laszlo said she hoped the report would change government and supermarket policies.

However, supermarkets’ organisation CBL has called the report ‘too negative’.

‘A child could not wish to be born in a better country than the Netherlands where food is healthy, varied and safe,’ CBL director Marc Jansen told the NRC. ‘Should supermarkets become greengrocers or are we letting the parents decide? I think Unicef is going too far when they say children’s rights are harmed through the sale of legally allowed products.’

Strict

The CBL also criticised the healthy eating guidelinees for being ‘too strict’ and said that promotion using cartoon characters has almost been phased out, despite Unicef finding them in the promotion material of 25% of the products. Supermarkets are also working on lowering salt and sugar content, Jansen said.

The government’s healthy eating advisory centre Voedingscentrum said there is no reason for manufacturers to aim food specifically at children and from the age of one, children can eat what adults eat.

The centre’s guidelines are based on the five main food groups, known as the ‘schijf van vijf’ and people are advised to eat lots of fruit, vegetables and whole grain products.

Meat consumption should be reduced and replaced by legumes, nuts, eggs or tofu. Water, coffee and tea remain the best sources of liquid, the recommendations, which were revised in 2016, state.

Share this article
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Reddit
  • Copy URL
Economy Health
Thank you for donating to DutchNews.nl.

We could not provide the Dutch News service, and keep it free of charge, without the generous support of our readers. Your donations allow us to report on issues you tell us matter, and provide you with a summary of the most important Dutch news each day.

Make a donation
Latest
Show more
The big election issues: climate change and the environment
Hundreds gather for Amsterdam's second "No Kings" protest
Election watch: VVD says no again; fewer women candidates
Dutch intelligence services now share less information with US
Podcast: The Ratterdam Night Watch Edition
NewsHomeEconomyElection 2025Art and cultureSportEuropeSocietyEnvironmentHealthHousingEducation
Life in the NetherlandsLatestOpinionBooksTravel10 QuestionsLearning DutchInburgering with DNFood & DrinkAsk us anything
About usTeamDonateAdvertiseWriting for Dutch NewsContact usPrivacyNewsletter
© 2025 DutchNews | Cookie settings

Help us to keep providing you with up-to-date news about this month's Dutch general election.

Our thanks to everyone who donates regularly to Dutch News. It costs money to produce our daily news service, our original features and daily newsletters, and we could not do it without you.

If you have not yet made a donation, or did so a while ago, you can do so via these links

The DutchNews.nl team

Donate now

Dutchnews Survey

Please help us making DutchNews.nl a better read by taking part in a short survey.

Take part now