From crisps to sausage rolls and Ribena – how to swap your kids’ junk-filled packed lunch boxes for healthier choices

IT comes with serious health concerns, yet ultra-processed food makes up around half of all we eat.

And the average kids’ lunch box contains up to 40 different additives, which can also be harmful.

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Seven of the world’s top ten food manufacturers made two thirds of their UK profits from unhealthy food, a study by Oxford University has found.

And scientists in Europe have spotted a new link between processed food and cancer.

Their study revealed that some of the chemicals used to improve the appear­ance, flavour and shelf life in ultra-processed ready meals, sweets and chocolates are linked to a 15 per cent higher risk of the disease.

Today, Sun on Sunday Health explains how to ditch junk-filled packed lunch boxes in favour of healthier choices.

Nutritionist Rob Hobson says: “Cutting down the number of additives your children eat from a young age is about ingraining healthier choices in them that last into teenage years and adulthood.

“Ultra-processed foods contain low amounts of fibre and other key nutrients and can have quite an addictive effect, encouraging kids to crave more sweet things. It can feel impossible and costly to cut them out entirely and that is not necessary.

“Some preser­vatives, for example, have a valuable role to play in making food last longer.

“However, eating too many ultra-processed foods can sacrifice your intake of better foods that contribute to a more balanced and healthier diet.”

Additives include salt, sugar, sweeteners, flavourings, colourings and preservatives.

There are also bleaching agents in flour and thickening agents in jams, puddings and salad dressings.

Stabilisers, such as starch, and emulsifiers are contained in chocolate, baked goods and mayonnaise.

Additives are approved as safe by the Food Standards Agency and are identified by name or by E-numbers in ingredient lists.

‘Making changes’

Rob says: “If your kid only likes white bread or that’s all you can afford, that’s OK, you shouldn’t feel bad about giving that to them.

“But you can then focus on other parts of the lunch box, making changes where you can and within your budget.

“Not everything that comes in a packet is bad but I recommend that parents avoid options with long lists of added ingredients and E-numbers as a rule of thumb.

“Replace them with more nutritious packs of olives, nuts, seeds, organic squeezy yoghurts or cheese without added flavouring and colour.”

Here, Rob swaps out additive-packed lunch-box favourites for junk-free options . . . 

Main

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DITCH Stamford Street sausage roll (contains palm oil, potato starch, salt and sugar and calcium carbonate).

SWITCH cooked chicken pieces and salad (no additives)

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DITCH Sainsbury’s mini cheese & onion rolls (contains salt, maize starch, palm oil, hydroxy-propyl methylcellulose)

SWITCH cheese on fresh bakery roll (no additives)

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DITCH Co-op tuna with mayonnaise sandwich on white bread (contains sugar, calcium carbonate, salt, emulsifiers, ascorbic acid, cornflour, wheat starch)

SWITCH tuna pasta salad (no additives)

Snack

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DITCH Tesco salt & vinegar crisps (contains flavouring, maltodextrin, citric acid, salt)

SWITCH plain home-popped popcorn (no additives)

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DITCH Strange & Things cheesestrings (contains citric acid, lactic acid and paprika)

SWITCH cheddar cheese cubes (no additives)

Dessert

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DITCH Hartley’s jelly pot (contains sugar, locust bean gum, xanthan gum, gellan gum, citric acid, anthocyanin, beta carotene, potassium citrate and steviol glycosides)

SWITCH natural yoghurt with chopped fruit (no additives)

Drink

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DITCH Ribena (contains blackcurrant juice from concentrate, polydextrose, malic acid, acesulfame k and sucralose)

SWITCH water with chopped fruit (no additives)