Food: Roll out the bagels, it's lunchtime

Gone are the days of the standard sandwich. Pitta bread, bagels and foccacia are de rigeur in children's lunch boxes these days, according to a survey by Sainsbury's.

Children are the biggest consumers of bread - 67 per cent of bread products that are bought are eaten by children under 16 - but, unlike the 65-plus age group, whose first choice is white, sliced bread, they are developing a more sophisticated palate.

The survey of 11,000 children and adults revealed that pitta bread is the most popular type of bread among under-fives but, between the ages of six and 10, a child's first choice is a bagel. Twenty-four per cent of pitta bread products are eaten by children under 16, compared with 17 per cent of white bread. Bagels are children's second favourite bread product overall, eaten by 18.3 per cent.

Foccacia is most popular with 25-44-year-old adults who have children, and has superseded the baguette on the dinner table.