Responding to Public Health England’s publication ‘Sugar Reduction: Achieving the 20%’, a set of technical guidelines for sugar reduction in which pubs have been designated an out of home food outlet category of their own, The British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) Chief Executive, Brigid Simmonds, comments:
“The vast majority of pubs are small independent businesses. For those serving food there is a diverse approach to food preparation and provision and there is therefore typically no such thing as a standard meal.
“Pubs are already under considerable regulatory and financial pressure and we would be wary of over-regulation in this area.
“Of course, pubs cater mainly for adults and the number of pub meals enjoyed by children is typically a small part of their overall diet. Nevertheless, pubs are ready to play their part in tackling childhood obesity and we will be reviewing the benchmark data released by PHE to understand the best ways to approach this.”