Stop serving ready meals to our kids!
Our Out to Lunch 2024 campaign sent an army of secret diner parents to assess the quality of 20 popular UK high street food chains.
We uncovered a lack of healthy and freshly prepared options on kids' menus. As a result of our campaign, several chains have now committed to a groundbreaking pledge to report on their ultra-processed ingredients.
Who topped the league table?
Our secret diners rated Wahaca as the best restaurant overall. JD Wetherspoon, Harvester, Nando's and Frankie & Benny's are in the top 5. Franco Manca took the unenviable bottom slot of the league table, with KFC and Pizza Hut avoiding last place.
The cost of a meal and whether it's freshly prepared or not, are two leading considerations for parents. Our table reveals that price is not a barrier to better kids' menus. Many of the cheaper chains are at the top of the table, and more expensive further down.
What should this year’s restaurants do next?
Ultra-processed food (UPF) is a leading concern for parents due to their link to health problems like cancer and heart, kidney and liver disease.
We were shocked to find a huge lack of fresh preparation. Restaurants are ripping parents off by serving children ready meals.
Wahaca, Wetherspoon, Harvester, Zizzi, Carluccio's, Toby Carvery and Leon are committed to serving freshly prepared, responsibly sourced and tasty food and have taken our groundbreaking pledge to report on their UPF ingredients.
Parents expect better. It's high time the rest of our restaurant chains started listening to them.
Out to Lunch - our progress so far
Since we started the Out to Lunch campaign in 2013, we’ve seen huge progress made by high street restaurant chains. Restaurants now have fairly good sustainability policies in place. Through being part of the campaign, they are committed to continuously improving their kid's menus so they are more nutritious and sustainable. Changes we’ve seen so far include:
More vegetables now feature on kids’ menus. Millions more portions of veg are being served because of the Out to Lunch 2019 and 2021 campaigns.
There has been a huge increase in vegetarian and vegan options. This reflects the customer demand for less meat
Ten out of twenty restaurants have signed the ‘Stop Deforestation Pledge’. This aims to make their supply chains better for the planet.
Reducing sugar content. Several restaurants are actively looking at ways to reduce sugar levels in kids’ desserts.
Will you help us to change the menu?
As a charity, we rely on the passion and support of people like you.
We work with farmers, retailers, caterers and government to change the way we farm and eat.
Give a regular donation, and say ‘yes’ to a food and farming future that supports public health.
That's not all we're doing to improve children's food
Out to Lunch is part of our wider mission to transform the way we eat. Our Food for Life programme works with schools, early years, care homes and hospitals to make good food the easy choice for everyone. Find out how you can get involved.
