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Like many modern parents Sally Luckraft and Lynda Power have been keen to give their children the healthiest possible start in life. The friends - who met at antenatal classes when they were expecting their first children Ben and Thomas - both took care to eat healthily when they were pregnant. So when their sons were old enough to start solid food they diligently pureed fresh fruit and vegetables to make sure the youngsters were getting the most nutritious food they could. But when their boys reached the next stage of feeding they hit a problem. 'This was when you are supposed to start introducing a wider range of foods, particularly dairy products like fruit yogurts,' says Sally. 'We were shocked to find that many of the products aimed at children of this age and all of the yogurts on the supermarket shelves were full of sugar, added flavours and often colourings too.' As toddlers are often fed at least one yogurt a day both parents felt if they fed them the yogurts available - which contained more sugar than fruit - this was far too much sugar. Both Sally and Lynda were struck by the inconsistency between what was available at the supermarkets and the advice widely given to mums for feeding toddlers. 'All the books and all the magazines were telling us to feed our children low sugar, low salt foods with no added flavourings and colourings and yet these products didn't seem to be around,' says Sally 'and we knew that plenty of other mothers felt the same way from the results of the research we did into what mothers feed their toddlers and what they would like to be able to buy.' So Sally, 34, who studied home economics at university, and Lynda, 40, who previously worked in sales and marketing, set about solving the problem - not only for themselves but for concerned parents all over the country. They have set up Mums4 - a range of healthier everyday organic foods for toddlers with no added sugar, salt, flavourings or colourings. The first foods in the range - fruit yogurts - hit the shelves of Sainsbury's and Waitrose last summer. They are the only organic fruit yogurts with no added sugar available in Britain. Not only that, but Mums4 yogurts contain 20 - 30 per cent fruit rather than the 5-6% in a lot of other fruit yogurts. Not surprisingly, the yogurts have provoked a huge response from parents. 'We are inundated every day with emails and letters from people writing in to thank us for producing the yogurts and how much their children love them,' says Sally, from Henley-in-Arden in Warwickshire. 'One woman told us she nearly cried when she saw them as they were just what she had been looking for.' The yogurts have proved so successful that Sally and Lynda are pushing ahead with development plans for other toddler products. The next - rice pudding and custard - are due to launch around the country in March to be followed by cereals and biscuits. And the yogurts certainly seem to have had the right effect on Ben and Thomas, who both celebrated their third birthdays in December. 'Neither of them seem to have a sweet tooth at all,' says Sally. 'We feel a lot happier feeding them these products than what was available before and we hope that other parents will feel the same.' For more information
on Mums4 products visit www.mums4.com |
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