HIGH street restaurants and pubs are serving savoury meals containing up to 13 teaspoons of sugar — more than half an adult’s daily recommended maximum intake.
A survey of 28 high street food chains, including Pizza Express, Wetherspoon’s and Hungry Horse pubs, by anti-sugar campaigners reveals some main meals can contain more sugar than seven doughnuts.
The meal found to contain the highest levels of sugar was a Hungry Horse tandoori vegetable masala with 52g of sugar. This is equivalent to almost 13 teaspoons, or 58% of an adult’s recommended intake of total sugar. By comparison, a glazed Krispy Kreme doughnut contains 7g of sugar.
The maximum recommended intake of sugar for adults is 90g — which includes naturally occurring sugars in fruit and vegetables. However, much of the sugar in restaurant meals will be added during the manufacturing process to sauces and dressings. The maximum recommended limit for added sugars was cut last year to just 30g a day.
Even apparently healthy options can be packed with sugar — and combined with a fizzy drink and dessert can tip an adult over the recommended daily intake of sugar in just one sitting.
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A BBQ chicken salad at Beefeater Grill contains 38.1g of sugar, more than a can of Coca-Cola . Any serving with more than 27g of sugar should be given a red light under the government’s new traffic light food labelling system to indicate it has a high sugar content.
Jamie’s Italian, founded by the celebrity chef Jamie Oliver, who has campaigned against high sugar meals, serves lamb chops scottadito containing 42g or 10 teaspoons of sugar. A spokesman for the restaurant said most of the sugar was in the sauce but it also contained some naturally occurring sugar in the vegetables.
The Pizza Express low calorie range includes a leggera pollo arrabbiata pasta dish which contains 25.1g of sugar, equal to more than six teaspoons. Pizza Express said 96% of the sugar was naturally occurring, mostly from vegetables.
Some children’s meals also contain high levels of sugar. The NHS says children between five and 10 should have no more than 85g of sugar per day. The recommended maximum for added sugar intake for 7 to 10 year-olds is 24g — or six teaspoons — a day.
A children’s chicken curry and rice from the Hungry Horse pub chain contains 27g of sugar, equivalent to almost seven teaspoons, while a children’s chicken breast wrap from Wetherspoon’s contains more than four teaspoons, with 17.5g of sugar.
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Eight of the restaurants surveyed by the consumer health group Ask the Q were unable to provide any information on how much sugar was in their meals, including Bella Italia, Little Chef and Byron. Bella Italia said it was reducing sugar in its children’s dishes.
Anya Hart Dyke, who runs Ask the Q, said: “I’m shocked that main meals, even the healthy-sounding ones, contain as much sugar as they do.”
She said it was even worse that some restaurants were unable to say how much sugar was in their meals.
Experts warn that eating too much sugar can lead to weight gain, which increases the risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke, and some cancers. The government has faced calls to implement a sugar tax, but has recently postponed the publication of its strategy to combat childhood obesity.
A spokesman for Wetherspoon’s said it was reviewing sugar in its meals but said the company was “sceptical” of government guidelines.
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A Beefeater spokeswoman said it would announce sugar and salt reduction plans next month.
Hungry Horse said: “All the nutritional information for our dishes is available in our pubs and on our website. There are many options across our award-winning menu that are lower in sugar.”