A report in Food Magazine slams Nestle for promotions for Cheerios and Milkybar via educational materials.
It says that the Cheerios promotion targets toddlers by encouraging them to place cereal pieces into specially cut holes in a page. The Milkybar promotion rewards parents who collect tokens with a personalised storybook, in which a child's name is printed within a story that features the Milkybar Kid and his friends.
Other companies under fire in the report are Mars, for featuring M&Ms in basic arithmetic books for young children, and Kellogg, for the Frosties Tigercathlon website, which features a game that encourages children to have their character pick up packets of Frosties.
McDonald's is criticised for licensing fast food toys such as McDonald's play cash registers, McFlurry makers, and toy versions of its burgers and fries.
It is embarrassing news for food brands, which have been making mileage out of claims they are cutting back on targeting children with their advertising and with their school-based marketing programmes.
The industry has been forced to make changes amid growing concerns about the health of children, particularly the obesity crisis, and pressure from parents and health groups for a ban on junk food advertising.
While the government has presently resisted putting a ban in place, it has threatened the industry with restrictions if it does not shape up. However, there are no provisions for other kinds of marketing to children, along with difficulties in defining precisely what foods will fall into the "junk" category.
Kath Dalmeny, author of the Food Magazine report, said: "When children read books or play games they are at their most receptive to learning and suggestion. It's an advertiser's dream situation.
"By linking food brands to games and books, companies get children to have fun, but the children are also advertising fatty, salty and sugary products to themselves. The companies hope children will build up positive -- even lifelong -- associations with the food brands."
Separately, Tesco has rejected plans to introduce a "traffic light" system for labelling healthy and unhealthy foods, saying that it confused consumers. It plans to print health information on its own-label products instead.
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