Cinemas slammed over sugar-laden popcorn
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Cinemas in the UK have come under fire from obesity campaigners over the 'excessive sizes' of the sugar-laden drinks and snacks on offer to movie goers.
According to the Daily Mail, a super-sized bucket of sweet popcorn at Odeon cinemas provides a whopping 1,005 calories in one hit, more than half the recommended daily amount for women.
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Meanwhile at Cineworld, 200g of toffee popcorn amounted to 840 calories, and some 30 teaspoons of sugar. Add a 32oz Coke to the mix and you'll consume a further 25 teaspoons of sugar and an extra 407 calories.
As a result, Professor Susan Jebb, chairman of the Government's Public Health Responsibility Deal Food Network, urged cinema chains to rethink their food options, displaying nutrition information and offering smaller packs and healthy alternatives.
And Weight Watchers have also joined the fight with its 'Slim Our Snacks' campaign, calling upon Britain's biggest cinema chains, Odeon, Cineworld and Vue, to ditch the giant sized portions, allow customers to weigh pick and mix prior to purchase, and offer fruit as a healthy alternative.
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Weight Watchers spokesman Angharad Massie told the Mail: "Cinemas are inherently family focused spaces, yet we all recognise them to be one of the worst spaces for promoting portions of high fat, salt and sugar snacks with little or no choice of healthier alternatives."
A spokesman for Cineworld responded by telling the paper that trials of healthier options such as fruit and nuts had failed to tempt customers away from the sugar rush of popcorn and fizzy drinks, saying: "The cinema experience is seen as a treat by most people."
What do you think? Would you like your local cinema to offer healthier snack choices? Leave your comments below...
