NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Major food manufacturers are pulling back on new products aimed at children, according to a published report, as companies may be getting gun-shy about criticism about unhealthy snacks.

USA Today reported Wednesday that Productscan Online, a firm that tracks trends in the food industry, found that there were 1,328 new bar codes for products aimed at kids in 2004, down from 1,499 in 2003. The decline follows three straight years of steady growth in the product segment.

"The yellow flag is out on kids' food products," said Tom Vierhile, Productscan executive editor. "It's starting to sound like the tobacco industry all over again."

The newspaper says that product introductions are a key indicator of consumer demand. Experts told the paper to expect fewer sugar-filled or fat-laden kid food introductions in 2005 as well.

"Nobody wants to set themselves up as the lightning rod," former Nestle USA president Robert Schult told the newspaper. "Now isn't the time to throw millions of dollars at a high trans-fat food for kids."

Nestle (Research) had 16 introductions for kids in 2004, down from 26 in 2003, according to Productscan, but a spokeswoman for the company told the paper that there wasn't a conscious decision to cut back, and that a drop after a busy introduction year is normal.

Unilever (Research) saw its introductions fall to four from 21 in 2003, as did ConAgra (Research). Productscan's data reports that Campbell Soup (Research) introductions fell by half to nine in 2004, although the company disputed the firm's data.

The only major company showing an increase in products aimed at children was Kraft Foods (Research), which the paper said introduced 41 new kid-targeted foods versus 23 in 2003.