Restaurants set to shrink sizes of pizzas and pies

[dricia]

RESTAURANTS and pubs are reportedly set to shrink the sizes of pizzas and pies after health officials set new targets.

Chefs will have to make sure their pies are no more than 695 calories, while pizzas will be limited to 920 calories as part of plans to drawn up to tackle childhood obesity.

It means that all but four of the classic pizzas on the menu at Pizza Express, including the Margherita, currently breach that figure, according to the Times.

Public Health England (PHE) will unveil the new guidelines as part of a package of measures to fight childhood obesity and promote healthy living.

It comes as new figures released today reveal that severe obesity among 10 and 11-year-olds in England is at record levels - with more than 24,000 kids affected.

The government recommendations for the amount of calories children should consume varies by age.

For example, a seven-year-old boy should have about 1,650, while a girl of the same age should consume 1,500.

By 2024, ministers want to see cut calories in ready meals, pizzas and savoury snacks cut by 20 per cent.

PHE bosses set out plans on how to meet the calorie reduction targets earlier this week.

Duncan Selbie, chief executive of PHE, told the Times: “Excess calories is the next big challenge for the food industry to improve the food we all consume.”

Alison Tedstone, the body’s chief nutritionist, said: “The simple truth is, on average we need to eat less. Children and adults routinely eat too many calories. These are early days in the calorie reduction programme but the food industry has a responsibility to act.”

A PHE spokesman said plans to shrink pies and pizzas were at an early stage, and targets could change before the guidelines are published next spring.