Ready meals could be banned for having too many calories

RESTAURANT dishes and supermarket foods could be subjected to calorie limits, it has been reported.

Ready meals, sandwiches and pizzas are among the items which could have their calorific content capped by Public Health England (PHE).

The draft proposals which suggested main meal salads and sandwiches could be capped at 550 calories and restaurant main meals at 951 calories in an attempt to cut rates of obesity.

PHE’s chief nutritionist Dr Alison Tedstone said the plans were in their ‘early days’ but that the food industry had a ‘responsibility to act’.

She said: “We are consulting on ambitious guidelines to help tackle everyday excess calories.

“We welcome the industry’s feedback to help shape the final guidelines, due for publication next year.”

According to reports, the draft plans are more than 100 pages long and cover a variety of dishes from tempura prawns and potato salad to Yorkshire puddings.

Chris Snowdon, of the right-wing think tank the Institute of Economic Affairs, said: “These demands are worthy of Nero or Caligula. The calorie caps are arbitrary, unscientific and unrealistic. It is reasonable to offer advice on daily calorie consumption but setting limits on individual meals is insane.”

Side dishes such as coleslaw are capped at 134 per portion.