Health food as bad as chips

They are packaged to give the impression that they are healthy choices. But some products with the most wholesome- looking appearances on our supermarket shelves may be no better than calorie-laden treats such as chips and doughnuts.

Executives from four of the world's leading food giants are expected to play down their role in Britain's obesity epidemic when they appear before MPs today.

But an analysis by the Evening Standard has revealed that even the most healthy-sounding options from Britain's household names can be loaded with sugar, fat and salt.

Health chiefs are desperate to stem the rising tide of obesity in Britain, with today's children now a stone heavier than the previous generation.

Executives from Kellogg's, Cadbury Schweppes, PepsiCo and McDonald's have been called before Westminster's Health Select Committee.

During the meeting this morning, Andrew Cosslett, managing director of Cadbury Schweppes Confectionery in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa; Julian Hilton-Johnson, vice-president of McDonald's; Martin Glenn, president of PepsiCo UK; and Tim Mosby, area president of Kellogg's Europe, are likely to highlight the nutritional benefits of their foods and drinks.

Our research, meanwhile, reveals that a bowl of Special K Red Berries contains more sugar than an American iced doughnut, while a helping of Cornflakes contains as much salt as a packet of Walkers crisps.

Cadbury's Brunch Bar - apparently one of the company's healthiest options - contains more carbohydrates than a serving of Haagen-Dazs Belgian Chocolate ice cream.

Although Pepsi's diet drinks are free of fat, carbohydrate-and sugar, a serving of its Tropicana Tropics Tropical is loaded with the same sugar content as several doughnuts.

Today the food firms defended the products - insisting they offered other nutritional benefits.

A spokesman for Kellogg's stressed that the sugar in Special K Red Berries was natural, and that the cereal contained important vitamins. A spokeswoman for Pepsi's Tropicana emphasised that the drink was not marketed at children. Nobody from Cadbury was available for comment.

But dieticians reacted with dismay - calling for clearer information on product labels.

Amanda Wynne, of the British Dietetic Association, said: "Companies need to show what proportion of the recommended daily amounts of sugar, salt and carbohydrates their products contain."

Government guidelines recommend that women consume no more than 2,000 calories a day, while men should not exceed 2,500.

Nutritionists say men should not consume more than 95g of fat a day, while women should not have more than 70g.

The maximum recommended number of carbohydrates is about 300g for men and 250g for women. The Food Standards Agency wants consumers to slash their average salt consumption by a third.

Labels on many food products refer only to the sodium content - which must be multiplied by about 2.5 to reveal the quantity of salt.

Labour MP David Hinchliffe, chairman of the Health Select Committee, said: "We want to ask the companies which have agreed to talk to us today what they are doing to help the situation."