It’s a staggering admission for the boss of a food manufacturing plant to make that he would not give the sweets made in his factory to his own children.

Talha Javeed was fined £800 and ordered to pay £500 costs after admitting failing to put food colouring warnings on the sweets turned out by his factory in Girlington. The sweets contain colourings which studies have identified as having potentially adverse affects on children prone to attention disorders.

Mr Javeed’s further admission to the court that he had not flagged up the ingredients on the packaging because he could not afford to design new packaging, and had been warned sales might fall due to the warnings, is a clear case of putting profits before customer care.

Labelling on food packaging is there for a reason – to give consumers an informed choice when buying products and to provide full and frank information about what exactly goes into the food we buy.

Those who have previously purchased the sweets will certainly be right to wonder why Mr Javeed was happy to sell the unlabelled items when he was of the opinion that he would not give them to his own children – a statement he later played down in court as a “throwaway comment” in conversation.

If such additives really must be used – and, in this case, there were alternative colourings available which did not required warnings – then people must be given the full facts of what they are feeding themselves and to their children.

Those who may feel they have put their children at risk with this product might also be wondering whether the level of fines issued by the courts are substantial enough, or do in fact leave an even sourer taste in the mouth.