TRADING standards bosses are praising some food manufacturers for reducing salt levels in foods that are specifically aimed at young children.

Cartoon characters, such as Spiderman, Teletubbies, Scooby Doo and the Mr Men, have all been used to advertise food for children.

Yet studies by trading standards officers in the region found that salt levels in these types of food were at unhealthy levels, even though in some cases they were being sold as healthy foods.

Some foods that claimed to be healthy eating options because they were fortified with vitamins actually contained high levels of salt.

The county's executive member for trading standards, Carl Les, said: "At the time of that survey, we urged those companies to reduce the salt levels and I am pleased to say that a number of them have listened to our concerns.

"However, we believe that consumers are still being misled into thinking they are buying healthy products for their children, when in fact this may not be the case.

"I would question the ethics of using cartoon or film characters that appeal to children, particularly when they are applied to salty foods.

"I doubt that the companies who own the rights to these characters would use them to sell a toy that didn't conform to safety standards. But they seem happy to endorse foods which are potentially harmful to a child's health."

Head of trading standards Graham Venn said: "The worst offenders were approached and, with the exception of a couple of manufacturers, all the companies agreed with our finding and have already slashed the salt levels in these foods by up to 50 per cent."