A yoghurt for children sold at Pret contains more sugar than a packet of Haribo sweets.
The chain yesterday launched a range of children’s sandwiches and snack pots, designed for children aged four to ten.
However, one of the offers, a children’s yogurt pot with mango and banana, contains 7.9 g of sugar per portion.
For comparison: a mini bag of Haribo Starmix contains 7.5 grams.
Nutritionists claimed that children should swap Pret’s yoghurt for a piece of fruit, or a jar of yoghurt with fresh fruit, to reduce the sugar content.
Pret’s children’s yoghurt pot with mango and banana contains no less than 7.9 g of sugar per portion. For comparison: a mini bag of Haribo Starmix contains 7.5 grams
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The NHS recommends that children aged four to six should eat no more than 19 grams of free sugars per day, while seven to 10-year-olds should limit intake to 24 grams.
This only applies to sugar added to foods, such as flavored yoghurts, cereals and fizzy drinks, or sugar that occurs naturally in fruit juices, smoothies and honey.
Health chiefs don’t set limits on the sugars in fruit, vegetables and milk.
The Pret treat is made with natural yoghurt, mango and banana puree, coconut milk, mango and lemon juice, along with turmeric.
Per 100 g it contains 100 calories, 8 g sugar, 0.3 g fiber and 6 g protein.
The chain said only 1 gram of the sugar content came from fruit puree, while the rest came from lactose – a sugar naturally found in dairy products.
Meanwhile, Haribo is made with sugars, fruit juice from concentrate and flavorings.
Per 100 g Starmix contains 342 calories, 47 g sugar and 6.6 g protein.
However, it is served in 16 gram packs, while Pret’s yogurt comes in a nearly 100 gram jar.
The Pret children’s menu also includes cheese, ham and chicken and cucumber sandwiches on malted bread, a pizza toastie and a snack pot with hummus and cucumber.
However, the ham sandwich and the pizza sandwich contain more than half of the maximum recommended daily salt intake for a child aged four to six years (1.64 g and 1.57 g respectively).
It is also about a third of the 5 gram limit recommended for seven to ten year olds.
Rob Hobson, registered nutritionist based in London and author of Unprocess Your Life, warned that the Pret children’s yoghurt is more of a ‘sweet treat’ than a healthy snack.
He told The Telegraph: ‘Yogurt is healthy, but that fruit puree underneath is really sugary.
‘Maybe it’s better to have a plain yoghurt and some fresh fruit. A better option might be the sandwich and some fruit.
‘It’s better to pick some fruit or maybe buy yoghurt that has less sugar and look at the back of the packet.’
Hannah Hope, a nutritionist from St Albans, told the newspaper: ‘Perhaps Pret should have opted for a plain yoghurt with berries as it had less sugar for children.’
A spokesperson for Pret said: ‘Comparing the portion sizes of a 100g yoghurt pot and a 16g bag of sweets is incredibly misleading.
‘Like-for-like, there is six times more sugar per gram in Haribo sweets compared to our Kids’ Mango & Banana Yogurt Pot.
‘Our children’s yoghurt pot consists of simple ingredients, containing naturally occurring sugars, and gives children much more nutritional value than a pack of sweets.
‘We always provide all relevant nutritional information, so that customers can make the right choice for themselves or their children.’