Pubs ‘will have to put calorie counts of wines, beers and spirits on pump labels and menus’

Number 10 plans to slap calorie counts on all alcohol served in pubs was today branded ‘un-British’ and ‘an attempt to nanny the country’.

Documents leaked last night revealed health chiefs want to force larger chains to disclose the amount of calories in every beer, wine and spirit ordered in their bars.  

The scheme, drawn up by Matt Hancock’s Health Department, would see calories advertised on pump labels and menus at franchises like Greene King and Fuellers. 

Critics described the plans as ‘madness’ and ‘disruptive’ for pub chains that are already struggling to claw back losses from the pandemic.

The Adam Smith think-tank told MailOnline: ‘Everyone already knows if you put away a few jars a day you’re likely to get fatter. The cost is going to fall on businesses who will now need to redo their labelling. 

‘The Department of Health has spent the entire time [during Covid] on a crusade against food and drink when it should be focussing on the pandemic, which it has done a poor job of responding to.’ 

As part of the plans, leaked to The Sun last night, all alcohol sold in shops could also be legally-bound to publish the same nutritional information.

Health chiefs have proposed including an alcohol warning on every bottle from the chief medical officer Chris Whitty, who has gained a cult following during the pandemic. 

As well as details of how fattening the booze can be, the plans would additionally see labels include information on the dangers of drink-driving.

Documents leaked last night revealed health chiefs want to force larger chains to disclose the amount of calories in every beer, wine and spirit ordered in their bars

Liquid lunch! These friends wrap up in coats and perch on a table outside a pub in Bath on Tuesday afternoon

Two young women drinking wine outside a bar on Old Compton Street, Soho, London, on Tuesday

The proposals, affecting any business with 250 or more people, therefore including most major pub chains, could undergo a 12-week consultation shortly, according to leaked details.

Public health minister Jo Churchill is said to be arguing that around a twelfth of drinkers’ calorie intake comes from alcohol and that the poorest and most overweight could be better off as a result.

While ministers have not yet calculated the wider benefits to consumers, there are fears that the plans will strike a £92 million blow to an industry already decimated by the Covid crisis over the last 12 months.   

Free market think tank, the Adam Smith Institute, told the paper: ‘We don’t need government enforced calorie counts to tell us something we already know.’ 

Boss Matt Kilcoyne added: ‘Ministers thinking up this madness should stop and drop the policy.

‘Let the publicans and the punters do what they want in the pubs without Mr Hancock wagging his finger each time a pint is pulled.’

Calorie labels were considered two years ago but shelved following opposition from businesses and the Treasury. 

Crowds pack into an outdoor pizza bar in central London on Tuesday night as a semblance of normal life resumes 

People knock back pints of Italian lager with their pizzas in central London tonight

A 2019 study by Cambridge University’s centre for diet and activity research found that food from restaurants with in-store menu labelling had on average 45 per cent less fat and 60 per less salt than items from other outlets. 

It comes amid a Government crackdown on obesity ordered by Boris Johnson following his near-fatal brush with coronavirus last April. 

Obesity is one of the key risk factors for Covid and an international report last month claimed it was behind the huge pandemic death tolls in the West.

World Obesity Federation research found Covid deaths have been 10 times higher in countries where at least half of adults are overweight, and they have accounted for a staggering 90 per cent of global deaths. 

Number 10 has launched a £100million Government drive to tackle the UK’s obesity crisis, which will include a ban on buy-one-get-one-free supermarket deals in 2022. 

A fitness drive is also expected, with millions of pounds allocated to encourage walking and cycling.

GPs will be given the ability to prescribe more than 700,000 of the fattest Brits diet plans, apps and wearable activity trackers.

Taxes on foods high in fat, sugar and salt have been ruled out because ministers are said to want to give individuals the information needed to make healthy choices, rather than hit them in the pocket.