BABY food manufacturers Cow & Gate have withdrawn a range of biscuits following revelations that the product contains trans fats, which have been linked to heart disease.

BABY food manufacturers Cow & Gate have withdrawn a range of biscuits following revelations that the product contains trans fats, which have been linked to heart disease.

The company said it would discontinue production of the Baby Balance Bear Biscuits from next month after being made aware of the presence of a "small amount" of trans fats in the products.

Research by the Children's Food Campaign also found that the biscuits were improperly labelled and did not make it clear to parents that they contained trans fats.

The researchers examined the nutritional content of 107 foods for babies and toddlers and discovered that some products made by other leading food manufacturers contained more fat than equivalent portions of a McDonald's cheeseburger and more sugar then chocolate digestive biscuits.

Professor Annie Anderson, Professor of Food Choice and director of the Centre for Public Nutrition Research at Dundee University, said: "Infants don't need biscuits as part of a healthy diet. Removing inappropriate foods from the market for growing children will ease the challenge of parents to help feed infants a healthy, balanced diet."

Farley's Original Rusks, made by Heinz, were found to have 29g of sugar per 100g, more than that contained in the same weight of some chocolate digestive biscuits.

Heinz Toddler's Own Mini Cheese Biscuits contain 7.3g of saturated fat per 100g, more than the 6.7g in an equal weight piece of a McDonald's quarter pounder burger with cheese.

Christine Haigh, spokeswoman for the Children's Food Campaign, said the findings were "staggering".

She said: "Many foods marketed for babies and young children are advertised as healthy. In reality, in terms of sugar and saturated fat content, some are worse than junk food"

Cow & Gate responded to the survey by halting production of its baby biscuits.

A spokesman said: "It is quite misleading to compare our product with a McDonald's quarter pounder with cheese which is consumed in a portion size of 194g, containing a total of 13g saturated fat per serving."