It's been a good week for … monkeys

It's been a good week for … monkeys

Primates in Paignton are on a health kick. The Devon zoo has banned its monkeys from eating bananas after nutritionists said it was the equivalent of humans eating cake and chocolate. According to the zoo's head of conservation, Amy Plowman, "fruit cultivated for humans is much higher in sugar and much lower in protein and fibre" than the wild variety. So instead, the monkeys are being given vegetables.

The change has not only led to improvement in physical health, but also behaviour. Senior head keeper Matthew Webb said: "Reducing the sugar in their diets has calmed them down and made their groups more settled."

Perhaps they're just a bit miserable now. They would be advised to nip along to the chimpanzee enclosure for a tea party and some Penguin biscuits.

It's been a bad week for … tigers

Sugar is the "new tobacco", says Simon Capewell, professor of clinical epidemiology at the University of Liverpool.

The typical Briton consumes 12 teaspoons of sugar a day - some adults consume as many as 46. The maximum intake recommended by the World Health Organisation is 10, although this guideline is likely to be halved.

So Tony the Tiger better watch his back. He convinced us that a sugary cereal was "Grrreat" when we were children. Worryingly, Tony the Tiger and friends could still be affecting our views, even though we're all grown up.

A study has found that adults think foods are healthier if they were advertised by loveable cartoon characters when they were young.

The researchers, from London's City University, said that affectionate feelings for the likes Tony the Tiger, of Kellogg's Frosties fame, endure for decades.

Paul Connell, of the university's Cass Business School, said: "People should check the labels of products they've loved since childhood. It's possible that affectionate feelings for brand characters mean they are overlooking relevant nutritional information."

Surely you would have to be living in a 1970s delusional bubble not to realise Frosties are, actually, frosted with sugar?

Meanwhile, fellow Kellogg's mascot Coco the Monkey, who appeared in ads from the 1980s - 30 years after Tony - was less trusted by older adults, who believed Frosties to be better for them than Coco Pops.

You've got to feel for poor Coco. What's a monkey meant to eat when deprived of bananas?