Do you know what's in your children's food?

A new campaign aims to warn parents that foods aren't always what they seem – and that some sweet foods can actually contain high levels of salt.

The pressure group Consensus Action on Salt and Health (Cash) is hoping to achieve two things – to persuade food manufacturers to reduce the amount of salt that’s present in children's food as well as making food labels very clear when it comes to salt content.

The group found that, for example, an average portion of Butterkist 'The Simpsons' honey nut popcorn contained 1.25g of salt – which equates to 63% of the maximum daily limit for children aged between one and three and 42% of the upper limit for four to six-year-olds. Children consuming half a packet of Tesco banana flavour delight would actually ingest half the maximum upper limit for children aged one to three and 33% for youngsters aged four to six years.

Cash chairman Professor Graham MacGregor said: 'We want to see all manufacturers doing everything they can to reduce the salt they put in children's food. If they really cannot reduce the salt content in food eaten by children to reasonable levels, perhaps they should consider ceasing production?'

However the campaign's findings were slammed by the salt industry's association which said; 'If children can be encouraged to eat sufficient fruit and vegetables, salt is irrelevant.'

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