NHS cafés caught in ban on sugary drinks

Hospitals will be banned from selling sugary drinks and high-calorie snacks next year unless action is taken to drastically cut their sales, health officials have said. Under a national plan, retailers including Marks & Spencer, WH Smiths and Subway have agreed to ensure sales of sweet drinks do not exceed a maximum of 10 per cent of their drinks stock. The rules will also affect hundreds of NHS cafés and staff canteens.

HOSPITALS will be banned from selling sugary drinks and high-calorie snacks next year unless action is taken to drastically cut their sales, health officials have said.

Under a national plan, retailers including Marks & Spencer, WH Smiths and Subway have agreed to ensure sales of sweet drinks do not exceed a maximum of 10 per cent of their drinks output.

The rules will mean sweet fizzy drinks, coffees made with sugar syrup and fruit juices with extra sugar will be heavily restricted in hundreds of NHS cafés, as well as in staff canteens.

Greggs, the baker, has also signed up to the plan, along with Medirest, which supplies hospitals with ready meals and uses suppliers such as Costa and Starbucks.

NHS England said all sugary drinks will be banned if the voluntary target is not met within 12 months.

From next April, 60 per cent of sandwiches and pre-packed meals on sale in hospitals must contain a maximum of 400 calories per serving – rising to 75 per cent of cases a year later.

Sixty per cent of sweets and chocolates sold must not exceed 250 calories – rising to 80 per cent of items by 2019.

Simon Stevens, NHS England’s chief executive, said: “A spoonful of sugar may help the medicine go down but spoonfuls of added sugar day-in, dayout mean serious health problems.

Subway has already removed all high sugar drinks from its stores, in a trial to see how customers respond if they are only offered drinks with reduced or zero sugar.

Katherine Button, the coordinator of the Campaign for Better Hospital Food, said: “NHS hospitals are trusted by patients, families and staff to keep them fit and well and NHS England is helping everyone to take a big healthy step in the right direction.”

Almost 700,000 NHS employees out of 1.3 million are thought to be overweight or obese.

The Government is introducing a sugar tax from next April on the producers and importers of soft drinks with added sugar.

Drinks with 5g of sugar per 100ml will face a lower rate of tax, while those with more than 8g per 100ml will face a higher rate. These rates have not yet been set.