Restaurants told to cut size of their puddings ... or else

RESTAURANTS are likely to be named and shamed if they fail to make their food more healthy, including cutting portion sizes and making puddings less sugary, the Government has said.

Ministers are expected to impose calorie-cutting targets on pubs, cafes and other venues serving food, in the same way that supermarkets have been encouraged to reduce fat, salt and sugar in their products.

Jeremy Hunt, the Health Secretary, told a private meeting of more than 100 food companies that the steps were needed because ‘going out to eat is no longer a treat’. The measures will even cover coffee shops serving snacks, as well as take-aways, in an effort to tackle Britain’s growing obesity problem.

Mr Hunt insisted companies would be publicly compared and suggested this would force them to act. He told the audience, including executives from chains

‘Right side of the debate’

such as Pizza Express and McDonald’s: ‘You want to be on the right side of this debate.’

The Government is likely to set up a website allowing the public to compare the way different restaurant, take-away and pub chains have acted to make their food more healthy. However, final details of how the system will work are yet to be ironed out.

Mr Hunt said more than a fifth of the average sugar intake came from food consumed outside the home. A quarter of families took children to fast food outlets at least once a week, he said, adding: ‘We can’t ignore than changing habits of consumers.

‘This means we expect the whole of the out-of-home sector – coffee shops, pubs and family restaurants, quick service restaurants, take-aways, cafes, contract caterers and mass catering suppliers – to step up and deliver on sugar reduction.’