Treats Loved By Kids And Loathed By Parents (And Teeth!)

23 / 05 / 2023

Treats Loved By Kids And Loathed By Parents (And Teeth!)

Parents yesterday named and shamed the food and drink brands they believe are letting down their children.

In the first ever Children’s Food Awards, Sunny Delight was singled out as ‘largely thickened, artificially sweetened, expensive water’.

The soft drink was given the award for Additive Nightmare and described as ‘without doubt the most unpopular product with the mums and dads on the Parents Jury’.

The main criticism was that even after a re-launch following widespread concern about its content, the drink still had ‘pitifully low levels of real fruit juice – just 15 per cent’.

The award for Not in My Lunchbox went to Dairylea Lunchables, a product containing ham and cheese slices and wheat crackers. One parent called it ‘absolutely vile over-processed rubbish’.

According to the Parents Jury, the experts’ opinion of Lunchables was: ‘Processed food at its worst – a high fat, high salt snack which markets itself as a nutritious lunchbox treat for schoolkids.’

lunchables
The Parents Jury was set up by the lobby group the Food Commission and was based on the views of more than 800 parents.

The Pester Power award went to McDonald’s because a large proportion of its marketing budget, according to the jury, is aimed at children. ‘Unfortunately, the fast food which McDonald’s sells is typically high in fats, salt and sugar,’ the jury said.

The award for a product containing large quantities of sugar went to Kellogg’s Real Fruit Winders, a wound-up length of flavoured jelly. The Parents Jury said the product claims to contain more than 50 per cent real fruit but ‘neglects to mention that each Fruit Winder is 47 per cent pure sugar’.

A number of healthy foods were highlighted, including Sun-Maid Raisins and Captain Organic dried fruit, which are said to be ideal for children’s lunchboxes.

Kraft Foods, which makes Dairylea, said: ‘Parents recognise the importance of making food attractive and tasty for kids to eat and choose to give their children Dairylea Lunchables as an occasional and fun treat.’

McDonald’s said: ‘All our advertising is legal, decent, honest and truthful.’

The fast-food firm is introducing a low-fat ‘steak premiere’ sandwich as an alternative to the ‘Big Mac’.

It is also adding a fruit and cereal yogurt which is less than 3 per cent fat and only 230 calories.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-128057/The-treats-loved-children-hated-parents.html#ixzz4XMJWoNMd