Into the mouths of babes

by Nicola Shepherd

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Two major supermarket chains have just launched a new range of�specially prepared organic convenience foods aimed at children.

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You couldn't feed a family of four on Bob the Builder spaghetti hoops, Pokemon yoghurts or Thomas the Tank Engine processed ham, but it would keep the kids happy.

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A spokeswoman from Sainsbury's explained that the rationale behind the new range was to enable mothers to make healthier choices when it comes to feeding children. 'Prepared meals will be nutritionally balanced and many will use organic ingredients,' she says.

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Cookery writer ,Sohpie Grigson, was one of the first to criticise the� move.� A mother herself, she accused the big supermarkets of manipulating the important issue of chidren's nutrition in order to sell more products, and, because many meals in the ranges are ready-prepared,�encouraging�TV dinners.

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She maintained, in a recent interview, that this only serves an already deteriorating situation in which children have lost touch with food because their mothers have lost touch with cooking.

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Sainsbury's new range will be branded Blue Parrot and will not use the existing brands based on popular�TV characters targeted at children.

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Sue Eccles, a mother of four from Worksop, says she relies on some branded foods to get her children to eat. 'For a child who is fussy about his or her food, eating something is more important than not eating anything. And if it's got to be endorsed by The Tweenies before my kids will eat it, then so be it!'