Baby food bombshell: One in three food products ultra-processed as experts warn of obesity timebomb

Researchers at the University of Leeds issued the warning after classifying 31 per cent of the 632 snacks, cereals, pouches and jars of food they examined as ultra-processed (UPFs).

UPFs are mass-produced foods containing multiple ingredients and additives. They typically have high levels of saturated fat, salt and sugar, and have been linked with diseases and bad health.

Products made by top brands such as Ella's Kitchen and Heinz were found to have up to 89% of their calories derived from sugar - including some non-UPF snacks marketed as healthy.

Popular UPF items such as "melty" sticks and puffs were found to be low in nutritional value, but many fruit-based purees were also shown to have high sugar levels.

While not classed as UPFs because they don't contain added sugar, these purees are high in naturally occurring sugars released when the fruit is broken down during processing.

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The researchers also found "baby snack bars" contained twice as much sugar as the average digestive biscuit.

It comes as the government faces increasing pressure from nutritionists to place limits on - or even ban - added sugars in baby foods.

Many fear that parents are being misled by brands offering a variety of unhealthy foods which they claim are nutritious.

Katharine Jenner, director of the Obesity Health Alliance, said: "The baby food aisle is flooded with sugary, ultra-processed snacks that set children up for a lifetime of poor eating habits, obesity and tooth decay.

"These products undermine the best intentions of parents and carers, who want to put their child's health first."

NHS advice states that jars, pouches and trays of processed food should only be given to babies occasionally and not used as a substitute for regular meals.

Dr Diane Threapleton, lead researcher at the University of Leeds, said such snacks are establishing sugar cravings among babies.

"We’re seeing highly processed snacks, sweets, cereals, even meals dominating the baby aisle," she told MailOnline.

"These are often marketed as healthy, organic, or with 'no added sugar' claims, but they contain ingredients and undergo processing that bear little resemblance to the kind of food young children should be growing up on."

According to the NHS, one in 10 children are obese by the time they begin school at the age of four or five.

Furthermore, the most common reason for hospital admissions among young children is tooth decay promptly by high-sugar diets.