Blanket calorie cap ‘impractical’, says UKHospitality

UKHospitality has warned against the introduction of a calorie cap for out-of-home food and drink, calling it “impractical”.

Former chief medical officer, Professor Dame Sally Davies, has today published a report containing a series of proposals aimed at tackling childhood obesity. Among the proposals are a calorie cap per serving of food and drink sold by the out-of-home food sector and a review of VAT rates on food and drink.

UKHospitality chief executive Kate Nicholls described it as “a knee-jerk, impractical and unfair measure”.

She said: “We are supportive of measures to tackle childhood obesity, but a cap on all portions clearly removes choice for all customers irrespective of age. Such a cap would cause problems for businesses, not to mention the obvious reduction in choice for customers and restricting of personal freedoms for adults who should be able to choose for themselves.

“Reducing the rate of VAT for healthier options on menus could be a good way to promote healthier choices. We would certainly be interested in exploring options to reduce costs for businesses providing healthy food and drink for customers. Many businesses have been hammered by increasing costs, so making it cheaper and easier for them to provide healthy options would be a good move.”