Restaurants to be named and shamed over large puddings

RESTAURANTS, cafés and pubs will be named and shamed unless they make food portions smaller or less sweet in a new “war on puddings”.

Chains such as Pizza Express, Starbucks, McDonald’s and Gourmet Burger Kitchen have been told to “step up” as part of the government initiative to tackle obesity.

Efforts by dining outlets to make their food and drink healthier will be compared publicly as part of the Government’s strategy.

Jeremy Hunt, the Health Secretary, told food companies that they needed to be part of reforms to reduce obesity because eating out “is no longer a treat”.

Food outlets outside the home – such as the major chain restaurants, takeaways and fast food retailers – will have to cut sugar and reduce the size of the puddings, cakes and pastries they sell to the public.

Consumers will be able to check the companies’ efforts on a website, although exactly how they will be compared has not been decided.

Meanwhile, food producers have also been asked to cut sugar in key products by 20 per cent over the next five years.

In a private meeting with food companies Mr Hunt said: “Going out to eat is no longer a treat. It’s a regular habit for many families and is contributing significantly to the extra calories and sugar that we all consume on a daily basis.

“We expect the whole of the out-ofhome sector – coffee shops, pubs and family restaurants, quick service restaurants, takeaways, cafés, contract caterers and mass catering suppliers – to step up and deliver on sugar reduction.”

The Health Secretary told the meeting that people were consuming more than a fifth of their sugar intake outside the home and a quarter of families took their children to fast food outlets each week.