Studying other television content than advertisements is necessary to better understand the association between TV viewing and dietary habits. The aim of this study was to examine the nature and extent of verbal and visual appearance of food and beverage in children's programmes in Swedish public service television. The study object was the most popular children's TV programme in Sweden, broadcast by commercial‐free public service television channel and watched almost daily by 45% of children under the age of 10 years. The analysed material consisted of 25 h, broadcast at 21 occasions over almost a 5‐month period of the most popular TV viewing season. All appearances and type of food and beverages were coded as well as the context in which the foods were discussed or appeared. Chi‐square tests were performed to analyse if the occurrence of fruits and vegetables and high‐calorie and low‐nutrient (HCLN) foods respectively were associated with the context where food appeared. Mann‐Whitney test was used to compare the representation of the two food groups in terms of degree of propensity to be consumed. Of the 287 programme sections, food or beverage appeared in 78%. Of the food appearances (n = 773), HCLN foods constituted 19%, and fruits and vegetables 39%. More than half of the HCLN food appearances are with children, while only one third of the fruits and vegetables are shown with children. HCLN foods were more often shown being consumed or actively handled, than fruits and vegetables. Food and beverages appear frequently in children's programmes in Swedish public service television. HCLN foods seem to be represented as more attractive, by to a greater extent appearing consumed or actively handled in comparison with other foods. These foods were also frequently shown together with children while fruits and vegetables more frequently appeared with adults than children.