The UK’s biggest coffee shop operators will today announce plans to reduce salt and fat in sandwiches and cakes they offer.
Starbucks, Costa Coffee, Pret A Manger, Caffe Nero, Eat, Greggs are all understood to be the latest operators to sign up to a Food Standards Agency (FSA) commitment to help consumers in the fight against heart diseases and obesity.
The move follows previous schemes involving six of the biggest UK pub operators and fast food operators.
At present, nutritional information is not made available on freshly made coffee shop products - meaning customers are unaware of the calorific content of some of the items they are consuming.
It is believed that some of the commitments to be made today will include:
*Pret a Manger will for the first time display calorie counts
*Starbucks is to review its range and change at least 10 best-selling products
*Eat will reduce salt in soups and make sandwiches and salads healthier
Tim Smith, the FSA’ chief executive told The Independent: “Behind the scenes there’s quite a bit of reformulation work going on. Whether the sandwich shop chooses then to brag about that or make it a marketing advantage, I don’t think we’re so interested in.
“But some of the changes will be invisible, so your BLT (bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich) might be a BLT, but it might have lower-salt bread, low-fat mayonnaise and less fatty bacon.”
