'Healthy' children's food brands found to contain more sugar than Haribo sweets

Many brands of supposedly healthy children's fruit snacks have been found to contain more sugar than Haribo sweets, according to research by a charity.

In fact, 85% of the products examined by health charity Action on Sugar exceeded the 47g per 100g of sugar found in Haribo Starmix.

Some of the foods even claimed to contain one of the government-recommended five-a-day portions of fruit or vegetables - a move labelled "misleading" by healthy eating campaign group Action on Sugar.

At least four spoonfuls of sugar were found in Tesco's Yogurt Coated Strawberry Fruit Bites and Fruit Bowl's raspberry Fruit Flakes. Other fruit brands with high sugar levels include Frootz Apple 100% Fruit Drops, which has 62.7g of sugar per 100g, and The Fruit Factory Strawberry & Yoghurt Fruit Bars, which has 58g of sugar per 100g.

Action on Sugar Campaign director Katharine Jenner said: "Parents find it hard enough to know what is 'healthy' without food manufacturers confusing matters with misleading claims.

"Whole, unprocessed fruit is healthier than processed fruit snacks and fruit juice drinks, as it contains vitamins, minerals, water and fibre, and does not cause the devastating tooth decay we see in young children today."

In total, 94 products were surveyed from UK retailers including Tesco, Waitrose and Asda, with several products saying they were "suitable for lunchboxes".

But school food standards do not currently allow these snacks to be offered to children, as they are categorised as confectionery.

Around 34% of girls and 33% of boys aged 11 to 15 are currently overweight or obese, according to the survey.

A Department of Health spokesman said: "Sugar can be very damaging for health and parents are advised to check packaging carefully so they can monitor their children's intake.