UK restaurant chains serving ultra-processed & MICROWAVED food – is your favourite on the list?

POPULAR restaurant chains have been found serving ultra-processed, microwaved and packaged foods - and your favourite may be one of them.

The investigation, using secret diners, found children's menus included "excessively sugary desserts" and "problematic additives".

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The charity responsible for the research, Soil Association, has compiled a league table of high street names.

It revealed the shocking reality behind many restaurant prepared meals.

From "low-welfare meat" to an "abundance of unhealthy options" it seems few of the sites analysed managed to impress.

Franco Manca ranked the worst of the 20 restaurants due to its lack of vegetables served with children's meals.

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Meanwhile, JD Wetherspoons scored well suggesting price it is not a barrier with its kid's menu offering two portions of vegetables and a fruit option for pudding.

The study also asked chains to provide information around their three most popular meals that had been freshly prepared.

Soil Association also found that across the 140 protein options from the various chains, at least 40 per cent were ultra-processed.

UPFs are often multi-processed and contain high levels of saturated fat, salt and sugar.

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They are known for being used as a cost-effective way to add flavour and texture to food items and have been found in bread, cereals and even salad dressing.

Franco Manca offered little variety with as few as four mains and no sides or starters.

All of the options were pizza with the list of toppings including: organic tomato, mozzarella, roasted cured ham, wild mushrooms and cured chorizo.

According to the charity, the pizza restaurant refused to share further information on their sourcing and preparing of food with parents.

Few brands were completely free from both artificially sweetened and added sugar drinks.

These were Wagamama, Leon and Nando's with the latter being the only chain to report using 100 per cent British meat during the study.

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Meat from as far as Thailand and Brazil was found being served at KFC and TGI Fridays.

The investigation seems to have garnered traction with a handful of restaurants already pledging to report back to the charity on their use of ultra-processed foods.

Soil Association senior policy officer Oona Buttafoco told : "Parents want and deserve better.

"They've told us fresh food and healthy, delicious choices are their number one priority when eating out with their kids.

"Restaurant chains are facing significant cost pressures, and we sympathise with the challenges they face.

"But we're concerned that some chains may be misleading, or even ripping parents off by essentially serving ready meals."

Oona added how "ultra-processed foods are dominating British children's diets".

But, the chain Wahaca, were the highest scorers for the best kids meals, and offered healthy options.

Co-founder Thomasina Miers said: "I am immensely proud that Wahaca has topped the Soil Association's children's food awards.

"It is great to see cooking from scratch, having free-range chicken and using Riverford organic produce has cut through the noise of chicken nuggets and chips, seen on so many 'kids' menus across the country."

Meanwhile, the food development at Wetherspoons, who came in a close second added how "proud" the company was.

Sarah Shaw said: "Wetherspoon is proud to have been ranked number two in the Out to Lunch league table, as well as being the leading pub chain.

"We strive to offer children's meals which are both tasty and nutritious, which is good news for the children as well as their parents."

Meanwhile, a Frankie & Benny's spokesperson told MailOnline: "We are proud to be ranked among the top five UK restaurants for providing fresh, high-quality children's meals.

"We take great pride in offering dishes that are made with fresh ingredients, ensuring that our younger guests enjoy healthy and delicious New York Italian food."

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Despite ranking lower on the list, a Bella Italia spokesperson said: "We’re proud to offer a wide range of delicious children’s meal options, including freshly prepared pasta and pizza, alongside fresh fruit and vegetables. 

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"Any sauces made by our excellent suppliers are done so to our own recipe.

"Our menu features both smaller and larger portion sizes to suit every child, and we also make dining out more affordable for families by offering free children’s meals all day every Thursday, and for just £1 between 4pm and 6pm every Sunday to Wednesday."

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