Truth ‘sugar-coated’

A POPULAR toddler food was falsely sold to parents as healthy and nutritious despite the snack containing too much sugar more akin to “confectionery”, a court has heard.

In a landmark case on the multi-billion dollar children’s food industry, the consumer watchdog yesterday accused retail giant Heinz of “false and misleading” conduct.

The Federal Court heard its popular Shredz products were marketed to families as a “healthy” and “nutritional” food for toddlers aged between one and three.

But the Heinz product contained high levels of sugar and should have been labelled “confectionery”, the court heard.

The multinational company denies the claims.