LUNCHBOX sized cartons of Ribena and Capri-Sun juices are being banned by the UK's largest supermarket chain in the latest bid to curb sugar consumption by children.

Only the no-added sugar versions of the popular drinks will be stocked in Tesco stores from September, timed to coincide with the start of the new school term in England and Wales. The move will also see the kids-size, full sugar versions of Rubicon juices withdrawn from the shelves.

Regular-sized, full-sugar versions of all three beverages will continue to be available for adults, however.

The move is part of Tesco's "ten-point plan" to tackle obesity, which has already seen it axe confectionary from its checkouts.

Earlier this year, the supermarket committed to reducing the sugar content of its own-brand soft drinks by five per cent each year, on top of four and a half billion calories already cut from the range.

A spokesman for Tesco said: “We want to help our customers make healthier choices and that’s why we have pledged to continue to cut sugar from the food and drink on our shelves. From September all the children’s juice drinks we sell will have no added sugar in them because we know it’ll make a positive difference to children’s health.”

However, Malcolm Clark, the coordinator of the Children's Food Campaign, warned that retailers should not simply resort to replacing sugar with sweeteners in products.

Studies have shown that people who drink a large volume of artificially sweetened juices and fizzy drinks are also more likely to be overweight than those who do not.

Mr Clark said: "It should be about helping change the sweetness profile of children’s taste and trying to start educating children’s palates so they don’t need so much sugar in all sorts of different products."

The decision by Tesco comes amid a growing unrest over sugar, with the BMA urging ministers to slap a 20 per cent sugar tax on fizzy drinks.

Meanwhile, the UK's Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) recommended governments across the UK set tough new targets for the consumption of so-called "free sugars", which would include even the natural sugars found in unsweetened fruit juice.

The SACN said no more than five per cent of a person's daily calorie intake should come from free sugars, compared to a current - and yet to be met - target of 10 per cent.

However, this was branded foolish by Scotland's leading nutrition scientist, Professor Mike Lean, who said it was "completely unrealistic" and unnecessary since there was "no evidence" of any additional health benefit in consuming five per cent of calories from free sugars, compared to 10 per cent.

Free sugars refer to those added to products such as fizzy drinks, fruit juices, pasta sauces, soups, bread, and breakfast cereals, but which also naturally occur in honey and unsweetened fruit juices.

It does not include the fructose found in fruit and vegetables, which are also packed with fibre, or lactose in calcium-rich dairy products such as milk, cheese and natural, unsweetened yoghurts. Starchy carbohydrates, such as pasta, potatoes or wholegrain bread, which break down into sugars, are also exempt.