Top baby food brands are failing to meet nutritional needs and are “misleading” parents with their marketing, a BBC probe has found.

An investigation launched by BBC Panorama commissioned laboratory testing of 18 pouches made by Ella’s Kitchen, Heinz, Piccolo, Little Freddie, Aldi, and Lidl. It found the brands to be lacking vital vitamins and minerals and to contain excessive sugar.

A laboratory approved by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service discovered that savoury pouches, despite often being marketed as a main meal, contained less than 5% of the 7.8mg of iron that an infant needs each day.

Little Freddie’s Butternut Squash, Red Lentils, and Coconut had 1mg of iron, while Ella’s Kitchen Spag Bol, Aldi’s Bangers & Mash and Lidl’s Chicken Casserole contained 0.7mg, 0.5mg, and 0.4mg, respectively.

At the bottom of the chart came Heinz Sweet Potato, Chicken & Veggies, which had 0.3mg, and Piccolo Butternut Squash, Mac & Cheese, which contained just 0.1mg.

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Meanwhile, fruit pouches were found to have lost all their vitamin C during the manufacturing process. Some fruit pouches were also marketed as having “no added sugar”, yet were found to contain so-called “free sugars”, which exceeded a one-year-old’s daily allowance of 10g free sugars a day.

Other concerns have been raised about the marketing of fruit pouches to babies as young as four months, despite NHS recommendations for infants to not be given solid food until six months.

Baby food pouches have also been criticised due to their packaging. The World Health Organisation and Public Health England link infants sucking directly from the ‘spout’ of the product to dental decay and the risk of babies drinking too fast.

The BBC said while most brands recommend babies not directly eat from the packet, Piccolo was marketing the “convenience” of eating directly from the pouch on its website, but had since taken down that message.

Responding to the investigation, Lidl said it welcomed clear government guidelines, while Little Freddie said it actively participated in policy consultations. Ella’s Kitchen said it would “never, ever” put profit above the health of children and joined Piccolo and Aldi in saying it will relabel its four month age recommendation pouches to six months.

Heinz has been contacted for comment.