Pub groups slammed in kids' menu report

Related tags Nutrition

Some of the UK's top pub groups have been slammed for serving up children's meals with nutritional standards below school dinner standards.Brands...

Some of the UK's top pub groups have been slammed for serving up children's meals with nutritional standards below school dinner standards.

Brands operated by Mitchells & Butlers, Whitbread and Greene King are among the family restaurants criticised in a new report backed by the Soil Association. Kids' meals in chains including Hungry Horse, Brewers Fayre, Beefeater and Harvester are slammed for the amount of fried food on offer, as well as chocolate-rich desserts.

The report, Real Meal Deal, ranked 568 meal options for children sold across 10 restaurant chains against the government's new minimum nutritional standards for school meals. Soil Association policy chief Peter Melchett was on the advisory body which drew up the school meal standards, published in the wake of Jamie Oliver's spotlight on poor school meal provision.

The survey said that none of the restaurants met the minimum school standards. In response, pubs have argued that while they have increased the number of healthy options available, parents tend to order 'treat' meals for children when eating out.

Melchett said: "Sadly, our survey reveals that all the major family restaurant chains are simply continuing their unhealthy business of serving up junk food to children.

"We are not calling for a ban on junk food, but parents have a right to be provided with a choice of healthier meal options. Restaurants must take responsibility for this."

Whitbread, owner of TGI Friday, Beefeater and Brewers Fayre, said: 'We have increased the healthier meal options on all menus, particularly children's offering balanced meals such as crunchy vegetable batons, tomato pasta, chicken salad, mini cottage pie and mini Spaghetti Bolognese.

'Hidden vegetables such as carrot and swede added into mash have been introduced and we have a healthier range of drinks and dessert such as juices and fruit salads."

Greene King, owner of Hungry Horse chain, has begun including nutritional information on menus, and defended its Candymaniac dessert, criticised by the report. It said: "Candymaniac is marked with red petals indicating that it should be eaten as 'a treat and not too often' and parents have the option of saving the wrapped sweets for another day."

The Mitchells & Butlers owned Harvester chains said: "Our meals are among the healthiest around. We have worked very closely with the Food Standards Agency to achieve this. Also, parents can choose salads or jacket potatoes rather than chips."

Rankings

Chains were given marks out of 30 by the Real Meal Deal report for the nutritional standards of their kids' meals: