VEGETARIANS criticised the makers of top-selling sweet Smarties today for using an ingredient obtained from crushed beetles.

The brightly-coloured snack contains a red dye processed from the dried body of the female cochineal insect, collected in central America.

It produces the colorant cochineal, otherwise known as carmine or E120.

The Vegetarian Society named Smarties, made by food giant Nestle, the winner of its Imperfect World Award at a ceremony in London.

Two other products were nominated in the category, for food and drink that appears suitable for vegetarians until closer inspection.

Guinness uses isinglass, a form of gelatine made from fish bladders, in the production process to make the stout clearer.

The second runner-up was Bassett's Liquorice Allsorts, which contains gelatine made from animal bones, according to the Vegetarian Society.

Tina Fox, the charity's chief executive, said: "There are some companies putting gremlins on our shopping lists - making products that at first glance are vegetarian, but then you look a little closer, do a little research and find out that the sweets your toddler asks for or the beer your host offers you, actually use animal by-products.

"We know the deliciousness of these products doesn't depend on the animal ingredients, and the Imperfect World Award is a message to manufacturers to consider the alternatives."

In a statement, Nestle said: "Cochineal, otherwise known as carmine, is probably the best known of all food colours.

"The raw material for cochineal manufacture is obtained from insects native to Mexico, but a number of extraction and purification processes have to be gone through to make the preparation used for food colouring."

The company said it appreciated the needs of vegetarians but "we cannot, unfortunately, produce small quantities of special sweets to meet these varied demands."

It pointed out that it made a number of vegetarian-friendly sweets including Aero, After Eight, Double Cream, Matchmakers, Rolo, Quality Street, and Yorkie.

A spokeswoman for Guinness said: "According to our product team, isinglass is the only fining agent we can use. It has been approved for use in the UK.

"There should be no residue in the finished beer so as far as I'm concerned it is suitable for vegetarians."

Cadbury Trebor Bassett were initially unavailable to comment on the nomination.

Last night's ceremony also honoured products and places that were suitable for vegetarians.

The award for best vegetarian baby food went to the Baby Organix range, while best meat or fish substitute was given to Quorn mine.

Marks and Spencer was named the best vegetarian wine and beer retailer; Cafe Maitreya, in Bristol, picked up the award for best gourmet vegetarian restaurant; and V1, in Nottingham, won the category for vegetarian fast food outlet.

Brighton is the best place to live or visit if you are a vegetarian.

It beat Edinburgh, Glastonbury and Manchester which were also nominated in the category for best UK destination for non-meat eaters.