13 May 2024

We contacted all 29 eating establishments included in this survey and asked them to comment on the salt content of their children’s meals. We received responses from 21 companies, all of which have expressed their commitment to offering healthy meals to children. Improvements have been made by certain eating establishments, since this research was conducted:

ASK Italian have confirmed they will review the salt levels in their pizzas to ensure they have a range of options that meet the guidelines

Beefeater are working through their children’s nutrition policy and looking to see where they can make even more improvements on sugar, salt and calories in the next menu cycle later this year

Big Table Group (Cafe Rouge, Bella Italia, Frankie & Benny’s, Las Iguanas) will continue to work with their suppliers to understand how we can keep improving the nutritional content of their food, whilst still delivering great flavours and value for money that people visit us for.

Burger King will continue to make small incremental steps in salt reduction to ensure minimal impact on food safety, quality and consumer acceptability.

Chiquito’s have recently included full nutrition information on their menus online

Gourmet Burger Kitchen acknowledge the importance of government targets and are committed to further reducing salt and improving the nutritional content of our food. They are committed to meeting government targets and continuously improving the nutritional content of our menu. To reduce salt content, they have made the following changes:

• Reduced salt in both beef burgers and fries, which are served without salt seasoning on our children’s menu dishes.
• Salt is not available on the table; guests are required to obtain it from the condiment station. This makes it more difficult to add salt at the table and, consequently, reduces salt consumption.
• The majority of salt  comes from the bread bun. They are actively reviewing this product to reduce salt while maintaining its quality and safety.

Additionally, their new menu, currently on trial at GBK Trafford Centre in Manchester, offers young guests further choice by allowing them to opt for a side salad instead of fries. This change further reduces the salt content by 0.5g per portion.

Improvements have been made in the majority of their main meals, with average salt content now down from 3.06g to 1.9g. The proportion of children’s meals exceeding the salt target has now fallen from 88% to 75%.

KFC have decided to remove gravy as an optional side, which was the saltiest side available in their kid's meal.

Las Iguanas have removed their two higher salt side dishes - broccoli which contained 2.2g and baked beans which contained 0.8g. This reduces the average salt content of their meals from 2.35g to 1.55g; 50% of their complete main meals still exceed the maximum salt target

Prezzo have had a seasonal menu change in May, reflecting some of the recent work they have made on salt reduction. Improvements have been made in the majority of their main meals, with average salt content now down from 2.28 to 1.72g. The proportion of children’s meals exceeding the salt target has now fallen from 68% to 36%.

Slug & Lettuce (Stonegate) have reviewed their menu and made significant improvements in their May 2024 children’s menu launch. Salt has been reduced in the following dishes:

• Grilled Chicken Skewer - from 1.4g to 1.2g
• Crispy Shredded Chicken - from 1.6g to 1.3g
• Fish Goujons – from 1.8g to 0.9g

Their new menu will also signpost vegetable side dishes with a ‘1 of your 5 a day’ classification.

Wetherspoon  Wetherspoon have stressed the importance of bringing customers on the same journey, and cite some challenges they face, including customer expectation on portion sizes and catering for different age ranges.

They have released a new children’s menu with improvements to some of the dishes as summarised below.

Salt has reduced on the following dishes

• Chilli bean non carne (new replacement for the Five Bean Chilli) moved from 2.2g to 1.7g
• Chilli bean non carne jacket (new replacement for the Five Bean Chilli jacket) moved from 1.7g to 1.5g
• Margherita pizza- moved from 2.4g to 1.9g
• Ham & cheese pizza- moved from 3.1g to 2.6g
• Roasted vegetable pizza- 2.7g to 2.2g
• Vegan roasted vegetable pizza- 2.1g to 1.8g

Zizzi have committed to reducing outstanding dishes to target salt levels or below by their October menu launch.