The Food and Drink Federation (FDF) has blasted a British Heart Foundation (BHF) report that accuses it of using packaging to mislead mothers as a "very bad Christmas cracker joke".

The BHF's survey on the marketing of children's food, called 'how parents are being misled', found that "partial health claims and a mish-mash of food labelling systems" were confusing consumers about a product's nutritional value.

BHF chief executive Peter Hollins said: "Mums are having the wool pulled over their eyes by food manufacturers. Smoke-and-mirror tactics mean that foods targeted at children and are high in fat, salt and sugar are being disguised with partial health claims suggesting they're a healthy choice.

The survey also found 84% of participants supported the idea of a single, front-of-pack nutritional label, and the BHF wants a compulsory label using traffic lights and guideline daily amounts.

The FDF hit back at the BHF press release, saying it "read like a very bad Christmas cracker joke". "It's short, makes very little sense and left us groaning," said director of communications Julian Hunt.

Hunt said the sector took its responsibilities very seriously and the nutritional claims the BHF identified were not "partial health claims" but part of an EU-approved framework for information on food packs.

"To claim otherwise is being completely disingenuous – or shows that the BHF is deliberately trying to mislead both mums and journalists at what is a very busy time for all of us," he said.

The BHF report can be read by clicking here.

In July, the Food Standards Agency supported a label similar to Asda's traffic light label.