Airlines accused of fuelling Britain’s child obesity epidemic by packing inflight meals with up to three days’ worth of sugar
- Meals for kids by easyJet and Jet2 and more contain up to 16 teaspoons of sugar
- A £5.50 Kid’s Snack Box by easyJet contained a whopping 35.3 grams of sugar
Airlines have been accused of fuelling Britain’s child obesity epidemic by packing inflight meals containing up to three days’ worth of sugar.
Campaigners warn that parents have little option but to feed their children the food provided, particularly on long-haul flights where packing their own is unfeasible.
But a Mail investigation has found that meals offered to children by easyJet, Jet 2, TUI and British Airways contain up to 16 teaspoons of sugar.
A Kid’s Snack Box, sold by easyJet for £5.50 and Jet 2 for £4.20, contained 35.3 grams of sugar, almost two days’ worth of a child’s sugar intake.
The box contains Mini Cheddars, Strawberry and Apple Fruit Paws, a Dairy Milk Little Bar, Jammie Dodgers and a Sunny Raisin box – a total of 13 teaspoons of sugar.
But a Mail investigation has found that meals offered to children by easyJet, Jet 2, TUI and British Airways contain up to 16 teaspoons of sugar. File photo of British Airways planes
A Kid’s Snack Box, sold by easyJet for £5.50 and Jet 2 for £4.20, contained 35.3 grams of sugar, almost two days’ worth of a child’s sugar intake. File photo of easyJet plane
This total rises to 15.6 teaspoons – 62.4 grams – with easyJet’s offer of a soft drink for £1.50.
The NHS recommends a daily 19 gram limit for ages four to six and 24 grams for ages seven to ten.
A British Airways Kids Safari Snack Box at £6.95 contains a pack of mini Oreos, a Ribena blackcurrant juice and a Naturelly Summer Fruits Juicy Jelly, as well as breadsticks and cheddar cheese spread.
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That’s a total of 16 grams of sugar (four teaspoons) or almost the entire daily limit recommended for children aged four to six.
Package holiday and flight specialist TUI advertises a series of generic meal options rather than a dedicated kids choice.
The online inflight brochure shows a typical ‘Drink and Snack meal deal’ containing four items for £6.
Choices likely to be picked for a child include a Fruit Shoot drink, a 40 gram pack of Sour Cream and Onion Pringles, a Toy Box Choc and a 100 gram pack of Haribo Travel Parade sweets.
That’s a hefty total of 28 grams of sugar or seven teaspoons.
It comes weeks after NHS figures revealed young children are being treated for high blood pressure, diabetes and knee-joint problems.
More than a fifth of children are now overweight or obese when they start primary school, rising to almost four in ten by the time they leave for secondary school.
Zoe Davies, a nutritionist at Action on Sugar, said: ‘Airlines should be held fully accountable.
‘There are a vast number of options that could be given instead of these high-sugar products so there is no excuse.’
A spokesman for easyJet said: ‘All our products carry nutritional information so customers are well informed when making choices around any food or drink.’
The other airlines were contacted for comment.
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