Family meals are more fattening despite Government’s campaign

FAMILY meals have become much more fattening since the Government set targets for cutting calories.

No 10 has been urging restaurants, supermarkets and manufacturers to reduce the calorie count of their dishes, by either reformulating them or cutting portion sizes.

But an official report by the Office for Health Improvement & Disparities (OHID) found Britons were consuming more calories than ever.

Data show family meals contain 10 per cent more calories per 100g than they did when the programme began monitoring them in 2017.

The volume of highly calorific food consumed also rose significantly, partly fuelled by the popularity of snacking and takeaways during the pandemic.

The figures show shoppers consumed 25.3 per cent more calories from crisps and snacks in 2021 than in 2017 and, on average, calories per portion of crisps or savoury snacks rose from 118 per single serving to 189 over the fouryear period. Ministers had set a target to cut the calorie content of thousands of popular foods by a fifth by 2024. Those targets were scaled back, to 10 per cent for most categories after officials decided t he original plans were “unachievable”.

The Government report, issued on Thursday, has pushed the deadline back to 2025. The official results are based largely on data from Kantar’s Worldpanel of 30,000 households, which tracked England’s eating habits for four years from 2017. Since the targets were set, family meals have become significantly more calorific, the report shows.

The term family meals i s used to describe the centrepiece of traditional dinners, such as beef casserole, curry without rice, or a fish dish. The data for 2021 show that, on average, they contain 10.4 per cent more calories than they did in 2017. Restaurants, cafes and takeaways also increased the number of calories per serving in main meals, starters, side dishes and sandwiches, the report found.

Calories in main meals increased 2.3 per cent, sandwiches were up 1 per cent and there was little change in children’s meals between 2017 and 2021.

Analysis published in the report shows that men, typically, consume between 168 and 304 more calories per day than they need and women consume 89 to 171 excess calories.

The volume and total calories consumed rose in seven of eight categories of foods eaten at home. It also rose for four in five categories served in restaurants, cafes and takeaways.

The report points out that the Government has threatened to “explore other levers” if progress is not made in cutting the calories of common foods.

This c ould i nclude taxes on unhealthy foods, or laws forcing manufacturers to produce more healthy fare.

However, ministers have said they do not intend to introduce additional taxes, and Labour has ruled out such a move during the cost of living crisis.