Campaign group Action on Sugar found some products made to appeal to children contained up to four teaspoons of sugar per serving.

It called for a ban on use of cartoons, vibrant colours and familiar characters on products with high or medium levels of sugar, salt and saturated fat.

Kellogg’s Frosties – which uses the smiling image of Tony the Tiger – was among the worst offenders, with 11g sugar per 30g serving.

Malt-O-Meal Marshmallow Mateys – containing colourful shapes and sold in a bright red box – topped the chart at 17g per 42g serving.

But health minister Will Quince said it was up to parents to teach their children about the importance of a healthy diet.

He told Times Radio: “I’m not in favour of those kinds of nanny state interventions because as a parent, it’s my responsibility to educate my child as to what is and isn’t appropriate for daily consumption and as a treat.”

“I like Krave cereal as much as the next person… it’s very nice, but would I have it every day? No, because I know the implications of that. I want to educate my children about that.”

“So what it means is we need to empower people to make healthier life choices.”

Mr Quince said plain packaging was “certainly a step too far” as they were enjoyable when had in moderation, and should be had “every now and then as a treat”.

Action on Sugar is based at Queen Mary University of London and regularly conducts product research.

Its investigation found that 65% of 73 yoghurts and 47% of 133 cereals surveyed contained at least one third of the recommended maximum sugar intake for a child aged between four to six years (19g or five sugar cubes).

Breakfast cereals and yoghurts saw significant reductions in sugar levels between 2015 and 2020, at 14.9% and 13.5% respectively.

But the Sugar Reduction Programme announced in the Government’s 2016 obesity plan set a target of 20%.

Registered Nutritionist Dr Kawther Hashem, campaign lead at Action on Sugar, said: “It’s ludicrous that whilst breakfast cereals and yogurts celebrate the largest reductions in sugars during the Sugar Reduction Programme, those same products with child-appealing packaging still have excessive amounts of sugars, unsuitable for regular intake by children.”

“Given the soaring numbers of under-18s suffering weight-related health problems and tooth decay being the leading cause of child hospitalisation, now is the time for companies to be forced to remove child-appealing packaging from products that are misleading parents and making our children unhealthy and sick.”

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