With bizarre names such as Cadbury Candymaniac, Mini Chocolate Challenge and Triple Treats dominating the menus, youngsters' health comes a clear second as popular family restaurant chains promote junk food over healthier meal options, a damning report reveals today. Chips with everything, eat-as-much-you-like ice cream and bottomless fizzy drinks laden with dangerous levels of fat, sugar and salt are being served up on the high street to more than 40 million children in the UK each year, according to research carried out by the Soil Association and Organix.
Their survey of the menus of 10 popular family restaurants reveals few healthy choices, even though eating out is now a weekly routine for a quarter of all families. While schools are changing their approach to school meals and making better efforts to provide fresher, healthier food for children thanks to the influence of celebrity chef Jamie Oliver, the Real Meal Deal report criticises restaurants for failing to offer a healthy choice. The report is based on the nutritional analysis of 568 meal options for children sold across 10 restaurant chains. The restaurants were ranked according to how their food compared with the government's new minimum standards for school meals, introduced in England in September. They were rated according to food and nutrient standards, information, policies on additives and whether ingredients were organic and locally sourced.
Not one restaurant chain came close to meeting the new school meal standards; instead, the results reveal a mountain of highly processed, additive-laden junk food which contains all the risks that may lead to obesity and diet-related illnesses.
Although TGI Fridays received the highest score overall (16 out of 30), the report said this was showed up by the "pitiful" meal options in other restaurants. The French-style eaterie Cafe Rouge ranks bottom of the league (scoring eight points out of 30) while also offering the least healthy meal overall.
The Hungry Horse restaurant chain scoops the prize for the highest levels of sugar and salt. Overall, Hungry Horse came fifth, scoring just 12 out of 30. The report also highlights the plight of "the redundant chef", with hardly any food cooked from scratch.
Peter Melchett, the Soil Association's policy director, said: "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 and restaurants must take responsibility for this."
Cafe Rouge said: "Our menu is designed to provide a number of choices, allowing customers to select a healthy option. We welcome feedback on our menu from customers as well as nutrition experts."
Keith Ironside, food marketing controller for Hungry Horse, said: "We've recently introduced a 'flower power' nutritional guide on our Hungry Horse kids menu. The guide was designed to allow parents to choose balanced options."
Marks for menus
Marks out of 30 given in the Real Meal Deal report:
TGI Fridays 16
Harvester 15
Beefeater 15
Pizza Hut 14
Brewers Fayre 13
Garfunkels 12
Hungry Horse 12
Little Chef 11
Nando's 10
Cafe Rouge 8
