Pikabee Scan

Ingredients › Artificial sweeteners

Baby food · 0–36 months

Are artificial sweeteners safe for babies?

Artificial sweeteners in kids' food

“Sugar-free” and “no added sugar” toddler foods are often sweetened with something else: sucralose, stevia, acesulfame K, saccharin, or sugar alcohols like sorbitol and xylitol. Pikabee flags every one of them in food for a child under three.

What Pikabee flags, by age

0–6 monthsRED FLAG

Any food other than breast milk or infant formula is flagged at this age, because WHO advises only breast milk for the first 6 months. Sweeteners are flagged too.

6–12 monthsRED FLAG

Flagged. The EU permits no sweeteners in food made for babies and young children, and WHO Europe's model allows no sweetening agents in food for children 6–36 months.

12–36 monthsRED FLAG

Still flagged in every food for a child under three, including “sugar-free” drinks and snacks.

What it is

Intense sweeteners like sucralose, saccharin, acesulfame K and stevia extracts are hundreds of times sweeter than sugar, so a tiny amount replaces it. Sugar alcohols — sorbitol, mannitol, maltitol, xylitol — are less sweet and are used in larger amounts, often in “sugar-free” sweets and chewables.

Indian labels usually write them as “Sweetener (955)” or “Contains artificial sweetener”, and they are common in flavoured drinks, health-drink powders, chewable vitamins and diet snacks that children end up eating.

Names it goes by on labels

Why Pikabee flags it

EU food-additive law allows an additive in food for infants and young children only if Annex II lists it there, and no sweetener is listed. WHO Europe's 2022 model for food for children 6–36 months allows no sugars or other sweetening agents to be added. Pikabee follows both.

How often parents find it

1 of 12

different baby food labels parents have scanned with Pikabee had artificial sweeteners, as of 4 November 2026.

Questions parents ask

Are artificial sweeteners safe for a baby under 6 months?

Any food other than breast milk or infant formula is flagged at this age, because WHO advises only breast milk for the first 6 months. Sweeteners are flagged too.

Are artificial sweeteners safe for a 6 to 12 month old baby?

Flagged. The EU permits no sweeteners in food made for babies and young children, and WHO Europe's model allows no sweetening agents in food for children 6–36 months.

Are artificial sweeteners safe for a 1 to 3 year old?

Still flagged in every food for a child under three, including “sugar-free” drinks and snacks. EU food-additive law allows an additive in food for infants and young children only if Annex II lists it there, and no sweetener is listed.

Is stevia good for babies?

Pikabee flags stevia (steviol glycosides, INS 960) in food for a child under three. The EU does not permit sweeteners in food for babies and young children, and WHO Europe's model allows no sweetening agents.

Is “sugar-free” better for my toddler?

Often the sugar has been replaced with a sweetener, which Pikabee also flags. Look for foods that are simply not sweetened.

What do the numbers 950, 951, 955 mean?

They are sweeteners: 950 acesulfame K, 951 aspartame, 954 saccharin, 955 sucralose, 960 steviol glycosides.

Scan your label free

Snap the ingredient list on the back of any baby food product. Pikabee shows what's inside in seconds.

Scan your label free Free. No sign-up.

Sources

  1. Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008 on food additives: Article 16 and Annex II category 13.1 (foods for infants and young children), Annex V (colour warning).
  2. WHO Regional Office for Europe (2022). Nutrient and promotion profile model: supporting appropriate promotion of food products for infants and young children 6–36 months.

Last reviewed 6 November 2026.

Related ingredients

Talk to your pediatrician about anything concerning.