Parents could be packing more than 12 teaspoons of sugar into their children's lunchboxes by giving them snacks designed for kids, a consumer campaign group claimed yesterday.

Which? assessed the nutritional content of items that fit into children's lunchboxes and found some were “full of salt and sugar”.

Which? magazine editor Martyn Hocking said: “Parents should be able to pick out healthy products for their kids' lunchboxes but what you see isn't always what you get.”

The food and drink manufacturing industry hit back at the report, saying it seemed to be based on “flawed thinking”.