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SYDNEY - Several of Australia's favourite food brands have been "outed" by the independent consumer watchdog for making children fat.
Despite often being enticingly tagged as "all natural", "low GI", and "real fruit", a single serving of some of the snack foods analysed by Choice pack as much of a kilojoule punch as a Big Mac and a middy of beer.
Arnott's, Uncle Tobys, Nestle and Ribena are among those named and shamed in a report released today, The Sydney Morning Herald reports.
The report analyses 10 market-leading snack food and drinks targeted at children.
Nestle's Milo cereal, which trumpets its energy-building qualities, contains as much sugar and even more fat than the much maligned Kellogg's Coco Pops.
A single 27-gram Arnott's Tiny Teddy biscuit had the dubious honour of packing the most kilojoules into the least amount of food.
Ribena, promoted as a healthy children's drink, contains only five per cent blackcurrant -- the rest is sugar and water.
Go Natural's berry pieces in yoghurt could be found in the health food section of a major supermarket but is laden with trans fatty acids.
Choice spokeswoman Indira Naidoo blamed advertising and labelling for misleading parents into thinking they were buying healthy food for their kids.
"Part of these foods popularity is due to misleading claims made, leading parents to believe they are not as unhealthy as they really are," she said.
"But even a small serve can be as dense in kilojoules as a small meal."
Nestle spokesman Peter Kelly said Choice was confusing consumers and making an unhelpful contribution to the healthy diet debate.
A spokeswoman for Arnott's said the company was already planning to withdraw the Tiny Teddy biscuits due to poor sales.
- AAP
