Abstract
Over three quarters of bestselling takeaway and restaurant food is unhealthy, new study reveals
More than 75% of the top-selling menu items in high street takeaways and restaurants are considered unhealthy by government guidelines, a new study uncovers. The study focused on the nutritional content of the 10 bestselling items purchased at 19 of the UK’s largest ‘out of home’ outlets. These dishes include pizzas, burgers, chicken, fries and baguettes and contain large quantities of fat, salt, sugar or calories that could be detrimental to health. These conclusions have led to calls for ministers to drive the food industry to make its products healthier as unhealthy diets are foremost cause of cancer, heart disease and other killers.
‘People used to see eating out as an occasional treat and that’s no longer the case. As a nation we eat more and more “out of home” food. Given the majority of the food available “out of home” is not healthy, it’s very likely that when you do go out to dine or have takeaway food, you will be having food that is harmful to your health’ stated Dr Monique Tan, a lecturer in public health nutrition at Queen Mary University of London, who led the research.
The study also found that only three of the 19 companies disclose information about the nutritional content of their products. Dr Kawther Hashem, Action on Sugar’s head of research and impact, commented on how it is ‘absurd’ that customers are aware of what is in the food they purchase in supermarkets, but ‘when eating out we are left in the dark. If companies continue to hide their nutrition information, there is little hope for consumers to choose the healthier options’.
For more information, please visit: More than 75% of popular takeaway and restaurant food is unhealthy, study finds. Available online at: https://www.theguardian.com/food/article/2024/aug/10/more-than-75-of-popular-takeaway-and-restaurant-food-is-unhealthy-study-finds (last accessed 24 September 2024).
Reported ‘record threats to health’ as a result of climate crisis
It is expected that 2024 will surpass 2023 as the hottest year on record as a crucial report has been released detailing the growing threat posed by the ongoing climate crisis. As the United Nations prepare to hold COP29 in Azerbaijan, it has been reported that 10 out of a total 15 indicators that climate experts have been tracking across the last 8 years have reached ‘concerning new records.’
The executive director of Lancet Countdown, Marina Romanello, stated that there are ‘record threats to the health and survival of people in every country, to levels we have never seen before.’ This is exemplified by numerous statistics outlined in the report, which found that close to five percent of the world’s tree cover has been destroyed between 2016 and 2022, which has crucially impacted the Earth’s capacity to capture carbon dioxide humans are emitting. Moreover, rising oil and has prices across the last few years have led many countries to offer subsidies to fossil fuels totalling $1.4 trillion in 2022, which Romanello has stated is ‘vastly more than any source of commitments to enable a transition to a healthier future.’
Romanello warned that ‘if action is not taken today, the future will be very dangerous... There is really no more time to waste – I know we have been saying this for many years – but what we are seeing is that the wasted time has been paid in lives.’
For more information, please visit: Climate change driving ‘record threats to health’: report. Available online at: https://sg.news.yahoo.com/climatechange-driving-recordthreats-000819467.html?guccounter=1 (last accessed 4 November 2024).