We all know the importance of eating our five a day, but getting some children to comply with this and finish their fruit and veg can be a tricky thing.
If you are the parent of a fussy eater who is constantly rejecting vegetables, there might be a very sneaky way to get them to eat some more, without them knowing.
That's because a new ice cream product has hit the shelves in Waitrose, which was created by three dads who had struggled with this very issue.
Known as Smugglers, the £4 tubs of ice cream contain hidden vegetables in order to deliver some added vitamins to your child as they indulge their sweet tooth, blissfully unaware of what they are really eating.
Co-founder Dan Lowe claims the ice cream is a "win-win" for the whole family as there's "goodness" in every scoop that "tastes seriously good too".
The ice cream is currently available in three flavours - Vanilla with hidden parsnip, Chocolate with hidden beetroot and Strawberry with hidden carrot.
We put the vanilla flavour to the test to find out just how well-hidden the vegetables really are and whether your child would be able to tell the difference if they ate it.
And while I probably won't be rushing out to buy another tub for myself any time soon, my verdict is that it's a game-changer for parents with fussy little ones as I don't think a child would be able to taste the difference between this and regular ice cream and there's no blatantly obvious change in texture.
However, just be sure to keep the tub hidden from them if they can read as that might give the game away!
For adults wanting to sneak some extra veggies into their diet, there is a subtle, but definitely noticeable taste to the ice cream that is different from standard vanilla.
The hidden veggies are in there in the form of parsnip puree and while you can't distinguish a specific parsnip taste, you can tell there's something about it that's out of the ordinary.
It's not a bad taste by any means, it's creamy and there's a sweet, vanilla hit when you first start eating and the extra flavour comes in as more of an aftertaste.
As such, I think I'll be sticking with a trusty tub of Ben & Jerry's when I need an ice cream fix, but I'd definitely recommend this to parents for their kids as something to try at least once. And if it works, you won't have to lecture them too much about eating all their broccoli again. Perhaps it really is a win-win!
Would you give this a go? Let us know in the comments below.
