New research by the University of Oxford has revealed that only 43 per cent of dishes on offer at the UK’s 21 highest-grossing restaurant chains met all their voluntary targets for sugar, salt, and calorie reduction, as set by the UK Government.

The targets for manufacturers, retailers, and restaurants were introduced from 2016 to reduce sugar, salt, and calorie content as foods high in energy, saturated fat, free sugars, and salt have been linked with an increased risk of obesity and diet-related non-communicable diseases.

The targets set different timelines: 2020 for sugar, 2024 for salt, and 2025 for calorie reductions.

Despite these targets, progress in the restaurant sector remains limited.

Alice O’Hagan, lead author of the study, from the University of Oxford, said: “Our findings demonstrate that there was low adherence to the UK Government’s sugar, salt, and calorie reduction targets in 2024.

“This is consistent with other research that finds limited effectiveness of voluntary regulation on reformulation, suggesting that mandatory regulation may be a more effective approach to improving the nutritional quality of out-of-home food.

“Food within the same subcategory varied in adherence to the targets, with salads and breakfast items having the highest overall adherence, and desserts and pizzas the lowest.

“However, there were examples of companies across all subcategories performing well, indicating that performance is not constrained by the type of cuisine being offered.”

Researchers gathered nutritional information from menus and restaurant websites from the 21 highest-grossing restaurant chains in the UK in 2024, analysing the proportion of dishes that met the targets.

Nine of the 21 had more than half of their menu items meet all applicable targets.

Papa John’s had the lowest compliance for calories and salt, at just 35 per cent for calories and 8 per cent for salt.

Burger King, KFC, Nando’s, and Vintage Inns had no menu items compliant with the sugar reduction target.

Ms O’Hagan said: “Our study shows that the UK Government’s voluntary sugar, salt, and calorie reduction targets were not being met consistently.

“Only 43 per cent of menu items met all of the targets they were eligible for, and adherence to the targets varied widely between restaurants and food categories, showing that healthier menus are achievable but are not yet the norm.”

Dr Lauren Bandy, a senior researcher in food policy and population health at Oxford and study co-author, said: “Voluntary targets alone are not delivering consistent improvements in the salt, sugar or calorie content of food items on offer in UK restaurants.

“Our findings highlight the potential value of stricter regulation in the out-of-home sector.”

The Yews, which is in Priory Lane in Burford, is a four-bed 18th century semi-detached house in the heart of the Cotswolds.

The kitchen in the house (Image: Harvey Holland)

Originally sold in April 2024 for £730,000, the current owners have spent 18 months restoring the house.

Now the house is on sale for £2.2 million after a huge scale renovation.

The renovations include two extra bedrooms, extension of the kitchen and conservatory, new kitchen, new bathrooms, new flooring and a sky light for the kitchen roof.

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The principal bathroom (Image: Harvey Holland)

On the ground floor there is a garden room, kitchen, dining room, pantry, sitting room, utility, and media room.

On the first floor there is the principal bedroom with its own dressing room and ensuite complete with a bath and double vanities. There is also a second bedroom with its own ensuite as well,

On the second floor there is a further two bedrooms with their own ensuites.

One of the bedrooms in the house (Image: Harvey Holland)

The house also boasts its own separate garage, as well as a separate outbuilding for a home office, hobbies room, or gym.

With the garage comes planning permission for a loft conversion.

The ground floor kitchen opens to a south-facing terraced garden.

The townhouse sits within the village of Burford, a market town within in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Work continues to be made by contractors to remove the 150-metre long trail of rubbish in a field alongside the A34.

Between 15 and 30 lorry loads of rubbish is being removed each day in a £7.3 million operation expected to last around six months.

Led by the Environment Agency, the work involves digging up and shifting 21,000 tonnes of waste, including tyres, shredded plastic and household rubbish from the illegal dumping site which covers 8,000 square metres – an area bigger than Wembley Stadium.

Waste is being removed from the Kidlington site (Image: Environment Agency)

The government agency said waste removal is “progressing well” since it started in mid April.

But another problem arising is the smell that is being released from the pile as diggers interrupt the waste which has been sat still for some nine months.

A spokesman said: “We have deodorisers on site to help mask the inevitable odour from the waste.

“As we dig deeper to remove the waste, this may become more noticeable, especially if this warmer weather continues.

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“If you wish to report odour from the site, please contact Cherwell District Council, where you can make your report via their website.

“When completing the details please use the post code OX52JJ and start your description with ‘Kidlington Illegal Waste Site’.”

The Environment Agency first attended the scene of the illegal tip in July 2025, issuing a cease and desist letter to stop further tipping.

When officers became aware of more dumping in October, the EA applied for and secured a court order to close down the site and said no further waste had been tipped since then.

There were concerns that pollution from the tip could spill into the nearby River Cherwell, prompting officials to install protective barriers to protect the waterway.

“The wooden fencing which was hidden by piles of waste is now visible,” the Environment Agency’s spokesman added in an update on the clearance.

“Temperature probes continue to provide live information, with monitoring showing temperatures to be stable and not at trigger points for response actions.”

Such is the progress being made, that the ground is now becoming visible where the rubbish was once sat.

Diggers remove the waste (Image: Environment Agency)

Anna Burns, Environment Agency area director for Thames, said the agency had spent time profiling the waste to ensure it was taken to the correct disposal sites, managing the wildlife, ensuring vehicles could come and go quickly and working with the local community and local authority on traffic management.

Work was also delayed slightly by the heavy rain in February, which made the site waterlogged, but Ms Burns said the team was “back on track now”.

“We have taken time to plan so that we can act quickly, and we hope that over the next few weeks we’ll start to see really rapid removal of the waste, with up to 30 lorry loads a day,” she said.