Candy and chocolate manufacturers in UK may have to stop using cartoon characters on their products. alliance of health groups said many food companies use characters from Peppa Pig and Disney on their packaging. companies use characters to get children to buy chocolate and candies. health groups said 51 per cent of products using cartoon characters were unhealthy for children. products fell below the health requirements needed to advertise on TV during children's shows. health groups said products were very high in fat, sugar and salt. The groups are asking government to ban use of these characters to sell unhealthy products to children.
There are three groups trying to get ban on cartoon characters on chocolate and candy. They are Action on Sugar, Action on Salt and Children's Food Campaign. They looked at nutrition content of 526 products that were aimed at children. The products' wrapping had colourful cartoon characters to appeal to children. Peppa Pig Candy Bites were among worst products. These contained 99 per cent sugar. Dr Kather Hashem, nutritionist from Action on Sugar group, said: "It's shocking that companies are exploiting health of our children by using cartoon characters on their high-sugar food and drink products, particularly on chocolates and sweets, which are already hard to resist for children."
