Hospitals must do far more to develop healthy eating by staff and patients, use food lower in fat, sugar and salt, and support suppliers employing environmentally sensitive farming methods, a report commissioned by the government said yesterday.

The study by the King's Fund thinktank found the present system used ingredients sourced internationally with little awareness of potential impacts.

Researchers measuring distances travelled by ingredients found those for steak and kidney pie had covered some 20,000 miles, including beef from Argentina and kidney from New Zealand.