Sainsbury's axes free crisps for staff amid Starmer's calorie crackdown
Workers will now be offered soups, porridge, fruit and bread while on shift following an overhaul of onsite food.
Sainsbury's has sent managers a new list of food items that they are allowed to buy in for staff, urging them to swap crisps and biscuits for 'light meal' options.
The supermarket said this followed comments from workers that the free food they were being offered consisted of 'largely unhealthy snacks'. Some staff had also claimed that food options were running out during their shifts.
Sainsbury's said the update meant there would be a 'more consistent range of free food and give colleagues the opportunity to make light meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner'.
It added: 'We are committed to ensuring that every colleague who needs it can have something to eat at work.'
The new policy will apply to all Sainsbury's stores and Argos sites, as well as distribution centres.
Obesity costing NHS £11bn a year
It comes amid a wider drive across the UK to help improve people's diets. Labour is planning a whole wave of measures to bring obesity levels down in an effort to save the NHS billions of pounds.
Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary, has said: 'Obesity has doubled since the 1990s and costs our NHS £11bn a year – triple the budget for ambulance services. Unless we curb the rising tide of cost and demand, the NHS risks becoming unsustainable.'
Simon Roberts, chief executive of Sainsbury's, has been among the industry chiefs advising the Government on ways to tackle the obesity crisis.
He sits on the newly-established Food Strategy Advisory Board, which is working to identify what needs to be done to make sure people have more easy access to 'affordable healthy food to tackle diet-related ill health'.
Late last month, the Government announced it was planning to order supermarkets to cut up to 100 calories from the average shopping basket. Shops which fail to hit these targets could face fines.
Mr Roberts has said he welcomed the proposals, calling them 'an important and positive step forward in helping the nation to eat well'. However, he has called for the new rules to apply 'across the entirety of our food sector'.
Ministers are also planning to introduce separate rules around restaurants, requiring them to track what diners are eating and bring down their calorie intake.
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