hey are identical in every way, even scoring the same results in IQ tests.

But when five-year-old twins Christopher and Michael Parker were put on different diets, the outcome was astonishing.

While Christopher continued to have tantrums and behave disruptively, Michael - who was banned from eating any foods containing additives - became much calmer, attentive and less aggressive.

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The experiment confirmed what many parents have long suspected, that artificial food additives affect children's behaviour and concentration.

In the two-week trial, Christopher was allowed to continue feasting on sweets, fizzy drinks and chocolates containing E numbers.

But Michael was banned from eating the foods he loved and instead had to tuck into fresh fruit and vegetables, nuts and bran-based cereals.

Within two days he was behaving himself better than his twin, and by the end of the fortnight was outstripping him in IQ and concentration tests by 15 per cent.

Their mother Lynn, 41, an office administrator from Crewe, said: 'I cannot believe the changes that Michael has shown in his behaviour. I was quite sceptical to start with, but to see a change by the second day was amazing.

'Normally, we have rows at bedtime but he got up and went without a problem. Michael has been conforming a lot, has developed a sense of humour and is a lot more talkative.

'It has made Christopher a lot calmer because Michael doesn't retaliate any more when he attacks him. As a mother it has been quite an eye- opener. You don't realise until you start looking at labels just what is in the food that you're giving to your children.'

Mrs Parker said she and her husband Andrew now hoped to ban additives permanently from the diets of their four children.

The experiment was shown on ITV's Tonight with Trevor McDonald last night. While both boys took exactly the same time to complete memory tests before the two-week trial, Michael was performing much better afterwards. He was also picked out as the less aggressive twin by child psychologist Professor Jim Stevenson, of Southampton University.

When the E number ban was extended to the twins' class at Dingle School in Crewe almost 60 per cent of parents reported an improvement in their children's behaviour, sleep patterns and ability to co-operate.

Professor Kevin Morgan, of Cardiff University, said: 'The epidemic of obesity and the onset of diabetes can all be related to the food and lifestyle children lead and school dinners have a big part to play in that.'

Maurice Hannsen, author of E for Additives, said: 'Children who eat a lot of undesirable additives throughout their life are going to finish up with a declining educational standard.'