Busy Brit parents packing kids off to school with ‘unhealthy’ lunchboxes

LONDON - A new British survey carried out on school children’s lunchboxes has shown that the snacks parents provide contain more than 12 teaspoons of unhealthy sugar.

The survey conducted by consumer group Which? showed that four of the food products and one drink popular among children contained surprising amounts of salt and sugar.

The findings proved that time-pressed parents find it difficult to tell which lunchbox fillers are the best to give their youngsters.

“Parents should be able to pick out healthy products for their kids’ lunchboxes, but what you see isn’t always what you get. Some products give the impression of being healthy but are full of salt and sugar,” the Daily Express quoted Martyn Hocking, editor of Which? magazine, as saying.

The survey showed a single Frosties cereal and milk bar has 8g of sugar and a single tub of Munch Bunch fromage frais has 12.4g, which means that a child eating just these two snacks would get through the equivalent of more than four teaspoons of sugar.

Which? researchers also warn that washing down those snacks with a Fruit Shoot bottled drink boosts the total sugar intake by nearly five more teaspoons.

Adding a pack of Fruit Strings made from fruit juice concentrate adds nearly three more teaspoons of sugar to the lunchtime total.

And a pack of Dairylea Lunchables ham and cheese crackers contains 1.8g of salt which is more than half the recommended daily maximum for children aged four to six years.

“Which? don’t seem to credit mums and dads with much intelligence if they think they’d be surprised to discover a Frosties bar contains sugar,” a spokeswoman for Kellogg’s said.

Nestle said its Munch Bunch range of yoghurts and fromage frais products was all classified as non-high fat, salt and sugar in compliance with Food Standards Agency criteria.

“Eight-five per cent of all Fruit Shoot purchased is low sugar with less than 2.4 grams of sugar per 200ml,” a Fruit Shoot spokesman added.

The makers of Fruit Strings said the product was created as an alternative to confectionery for people who didn’t like dried fruit. (ANI)