The Children's Food AwardsThe Parents Jury felt that most products marketed as suitable for lunchboxes were best avoided. Such products tended to be overpriced, over-packaged and nutritionally poor, yet were often marketed with dubious health claims such as extra calcium, nutritious and good for energy (which usually means added sugar). But many
parents did say they would be pleased to see genuinely healthy products
to help them prepare decent lunchboxes for their children. Sun-Maid and
Captain Organic were both popular choices with The Parents Jury. Sundora
dried fruit was running a close third until we started receiving complaints
about their Low Fat Frutti Max which one parent described as 'The
Sunny Delight of dried fruit' - the soft apple pieces were only
47% apple plus added sugar, starch, preservatives and other additives.
The parents particularly liked healthy products which came in an attractive and colourful mini pack. They were very critical of manufacturers who've used the popularity of these products to market dried fruits with added sugar, flavourings and colourings and felt that the natural healthiness of dried fruits was undermined by such adulterated products. Typical quotes from the members of The Parents Jury follow: |
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They're
nutritious and brightly packaged in small boxes.
mother of two, from Liverpool
They're
bright and they're colourful and they go down a treat!
mother of two, from York
Dried
fruit is good for lunchboxes, without preservatives or added sugar.
mother of one, from Radlett in Hertfordshire
Dried fruit is a great addition to any child's lunchbox. Children like the natural sweet taste of these high fibre, low salt, low fat nibbles. Watch out for the many sugary substitutes now on the market - they use low nutrient starch to replace real fruit and have large helpings of added sugar.
Health tip: The sticky sugars in dried fruit can be a problem for teeth. If you encourage children to start with the fruit and finish with some cheese, or a milk drink, this will help minimise the risks.
If only more children's foods were like these. No added colourings, no added flavourings, no added sweeteners, no added preservatives, no added thickeners, no added water, no added sugar - great stuff!
Sun-Maid
Californian Sun-dried Raisins
100% Sun-dried Seedless Raisins.
Captain
Organic Dried Fruits
100% Organic Dried Apricots.
The Children's Food Awards 2002
The Children's Food Awards 2003
| Not in my Lunchbox! | The Tooth Rot Award | Additive Nightmare! | The Pester Power Award |
| More in my Lunchbox! | Happy Gnashers! | The Honest Food Award | The High Five Award |