A BOWL of cereal could contain up to a third of your kids' daily sugar allowance, health campaigners today warned.

While salt levels have been slashed by 50 per cent in the last decade, sugar content remains high with some containing 35 per cent.

Experts recommend kids eat no more than five teaspoons of the sweet stuff each day.

But, a study of 63 popular cereals, reveals the sweetest contain three teaspoons in a typical 30g serving.

Action on Sugar praised measures to cut salt content since 2004, but said urgent action must be taken to target sugar levels.

Kawther Hashem, a registered nutritionist at Queen Mary University, London and the campaign group, said: "There has been no national sugar reduction programme, as there has been for salt, which is imperative if we want to see real and measurable improvements.

"The variation in sugar content between similar products clearly demonstrates there is no technical reason whatsoever why cereals contain such high levels of sugar."

Of the 63 cereals, Kellogg's Crunchy Nut was found to be among those with the highest level of sugar.

Children who are an unhealthy weight in childhood are more likely to be so as adults, putting them at risk of developing a number of health conditions, including 11 common cancers

The popular treat contains 35g of sugar per 100g, or 11g in a 30g serving – the equivalent of three teaspoons of sugar.

Also singled out for high sugar content were Asda's Honey Nut Corn Flakes with 9.5g in a typical serving (two teaspoons), and Morrisons Honey & Nut Corn Flakes with 9.1g or two teaspoons.

The survey found Kellogg's Special K – both the Red Berries and Peach & Apricot options – were among those with the highest salt content.

The cereals contained 0.95g of salt per 100g, or 0.29g per 30g.

The Department of health's average salt target for breakfast cereals is less than 0.59g per 100g.

The report reveals 53 per cent of the 63 cereals surveyed in 2015 met this target.

However, the campaigners claim cereal is still a major source of salt in the diet.

And they urged the Government to revive the national salt reduction programme to ensure that reductions are still made, to help reduce the risk of stroke and heart disease.

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Similar reduction targets for sugar would help to lower intake across the whole population, helping to prevent obesity, type 2 diabetes and tooth decay, Action on Sugar argued.

In November Waitrose announced it will slash sugar levels in almost 30 of its own-brand cereal to help combat obesity levels.

Graham MacGregor, professor of cardiovascular medicine at Queen Mary University, London, and chair of Consensus Action on Salt and Health, praised manufacturers for making "significant reductions to the salt levels".

"However further reductions are needed as cereals remain far too high in salt, and are still a major contributor to salt intake," he warned.

"Reducing salt is the most cost effective measure to lower blood pressure and reduce the number of people suffering from strokes and heart disease – one of the commonest causes of death in the UK."

Oral health experts also backed calls for greater regulation of sugar content in foods.

Dr Nigel Carter, CEO of the Oral Health Foundation, said: "This report is incredibly eye-opening.

"Far too many people are starting their day with a huge dose of sugar which is putting their health at major risk.

"Many will be unaware of the dangerous levels of sugar in some of these breakfast cereals and the manufacturers have a responsibility to alter their products to protect consumers from harm."

In March, Public Health England will introduce a national sugar reduction programme, as part of the Government's Childhood Obesity Plan.

HOW MUCH SUGAR SHOULD WE EAT?

The Government recommends that free or added sugars don't make up more than five per cent of the energy, or calories, you get from food and drink each day.

That's a maximum of 30g of added sugar a day for adults, roughly seven teaspoons.

Kids should have less – no more than 19g a day aged four to six (five teaspoons) and no more than 24g (six teaspoons) from seven to 10 years old.

"Free" sugar is any sugar that is added to foods by the manufacturer, plus sugar naturally present in honey, syrups, and fruit juices.

It is best to avoid this type of sugar as much as you can.

Free sugar does not include sugar naturally present in milk or whole fruit and vegetables.

"Natural" sugar is sugar in fruits, vegetables and carbohydrates is ‘naturally occurring sugars’ and it is fine to consume these.

Chief nutritionist at PHE, Dr Alison Tedstone, said: "Reading food labels and choosing lower-sugar cereals means they still can be part of a healthy breakfast, but some simply contain too much sugar.

"We announced our programme to take sugar out of everyday products, including cereals, in September last year and we've been working with industry and NGOs ever since.

"We'll publish our first progress report in late March or early April."

Sarah Toule, head of health information at World Cancer Research Fund, said: "The food industry can play a vital role in helping our children grow up to be healthy adults and to make the healthy choice the easy choice by reducing the sugar content in their products.

"Children who are an unhealthy weight in childhood are more likely to be so as adults, putting them at risk of developing a number of health conditions, including 11 common cancers."

A spokeswoman for Kellogg's said they are committed to providing people with "more of what they want and need in food, like grains, and less of what they don't, like salt and sugar".

She said: "We have tackled salt, reducing it in our cereals by 57 per cent over the last two decades.

"Thanks to our ongoing sugar reduction work, by the end of 2017 we will have removed 2,000 tonnes of sugar from the nation's diet too.

"Our long-term sugar reduction efforts have already seen sugar come down in some of our biggest brands like Special K and Bran Flakes and more recently we have reduced sugar in our biggest selling children's cereal, Coco Pops by 14 per cent.

"We will continue to reduce sugar while providing people with great tasting food they love."

Action on Sugar's findings are published in the journal Public Health Nutrition.

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