Top UK tourist attractions not offering healthy meals for children: report
20 Oct 2016
A report has found that top UK museums do not serve healthy meals for children. The report went on to shame the British Museum for refusing to serve vegetables.
According to the research by a charity, The Soil Association, lunchboxes sold by the Natural History Museum and the British Museum were among the worst one could get at such places as they were "loaded" with sugar and processed food.
Parents reported their disappointment with children's meals at the British Museum's Great Court Restaurant and Gallery Café which did not include a single vegetable.
Also on being asked by secret diners whether the chef could add a portion to their meals, they were told that this would not be possible.
Additionally, parents struggled to find free fresh drinking water said that healthier snacks were unavailable in the Museum shop, which had only sweets and giant chocolate coins.
The researchers found a lunch box at the London Zoo which contained upto 36gm of sugar, the equivalent of 189 per cent of a child's daily sugar allowance.
The survey found that 75 per cent of lunchboxes sold at popular attractions contained no vegetables or salad, while half included muffins, cakes and sweet treats but no fresh fruit.
Though the attractions were visited by millions of families during the school holidays, a poll by the charity showed that only 14 per cent of parents said they thought the children's food on offer was good enough.
Twenty of the UK's most popular family attractions were surveyed by the charity which supports sustainable food and organic farming in the UK, for the quality of food and drink on offer.
The survey covered all English regions, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and ranked them in an online league table.
