A NEW range of frozen vegetables launched this week - aimed at getting youngsters to eat healthier - has certainly given mums food for thought.

For now on the shelves is an unusual variety of flavoured Wacky Veg, including chocolate carrots, baked bean peas, cheese and onion cauliflower and pizza sweetcorn!

Launched exclusively by Iceland, they have been developed in conjunction with the Cancer Research Campaign for, says the charity, a solution to a diet crisis among Britain's children.

And the Citizen just had to discover whether Chorley's youngsters would give them the 'greens for go.'

So, armed with a bag of each flavour, we were kindly allowed into the Hollies Pre-School Nursery, Heapey Road, Chorley, to put the food to the test.

Our willing band of volunteers comprised Claudia Turton, aged three, Alex Roberts, four, James Coulthard, three, Thomas Holgate, four, Shaun Cooper, four, Natalie Lawton, four, Leanne Brown, four, and Jessica Taylor, four.

After some gentle persuasion the kids tucked into the cauli, little Claudia tentatively leading the way and giving it a somewhat unconvincing thumbs up.

Alex was the main man here after initially declaring that "it tastes like my tummy," then admitting he "liked it" before polishing off the bowl.

James, when asked if anyone else liked it, said: "I do, I love it. It tastes very nice to me," Next came the peas, with Thomas exclaiming: "It tastes like worms!" James said he liked them.

On with the carrots and sweetcorn. "Ugh, they're horrible," was Thomas's verdict after sampling the carrots which were not proving too popular - underlined by the contorted faces and surprised expressions.

The session was beginning to degenerate into minor mayhem, so we left!

On a more serious note Professor Gordon McVie, director general of the Cancer Research Campaign, said: "Of the 300,000 people who get cancer each year in the UK, about a third of the cases are diet-related and potentially preventable."

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