Warning on lunch box fruit drinks

Many popular children's lunch box juices contain more sugar than Coca-Cola and parents should steer clear of them, the Obesity Policy Coalition says.

The organisation warns parents that with the school holidays ending, they should not assume products like juice are healthy just because of claims that they have "less sugar" or are "free from artificial colours and flavours".

The group's analysis of the lunch-box size poppers found many have the equivalent of five or more teaspoons of sugar in them, with several containing even more sugar than the same size serving of Coca-Cola.

The worst offender is Golden Circle's Sunshine Punch poppers, which its website describes as "perfect to fit in a school lunch box". However, it has more than 30 grams of sugar per serve, or the equivalent of 7.7 teaspoons.

Obesity Policy Coalition Executive Manager Jane Martin said parents could be forgiven for thinking fruit drinks were healthy.