Backlash as Nando’s Limits Customers to One Coke per Visit Under New ‘Nanny State’ Rules
Nando’s has sparked a backlash after restricting customers to a single glass of Coca-Cola Classic under new ‘nanny state’ Government rules aimed at cutting sugar consumption. The Mail has more.
The Peri-Peri chicken chain, known for its ‘bottomless’ drink option, previously allowed diners to refill soft drinks freely during their meal.
But while zero-sugar options such as Sprite Zero and Fanta Zero remain unlimited, Coca-Cola Classic is now capped at one serving.
An updated sticker on Nando’s drinks machines now reads: “Want Coca-Cola Classic? It’s one glass only.
“Based on new government laws, we’ve had to limit Coca-Cola Classic to one glass per customer. Still thirsty? Help yourself to one of our low-sugar fizzy bottomless soft drinks.”
The move immediately triggered complaints on social media. One X user wrote: “Welcome to the nanny state.” Another said: “This must be a joke.”
Other restaurant chains believed to have enacted similar restrictions on free refills include Five Guys, Toby Carvery, Harvester, Pizza Hut and Burger King.
The change comes as part of a series of anti-obesity measures that have been gradually introduced since 2021, under then-Health Secretary Matt Hancock.
Just days ago, new regulations came into effect banning ‘buy one, get one free’ promotions on foods high in fat, sugar or salt, as well as free refills of sugary soft drinks in restaurants and cafés.
Worth reading in full.
I’m sure chemicals designed to fool the brain into thinking it’s tasting sugar must be much better for you than the real thing.
And have sugar taxes worked in cutting obesity? No – since introducing them in 2018 obesity has accelerated.
It may not be cause and effect. But it’s certainly no indication of success.
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I’m sure that if you pay for 2 cokes you can have 2. Sounds like what they’ve ended is the free refills.
But free refills remain for that saccharine crap?
Right, I am off to climb that mountain near me, and I am taking lots of water, fat, salt and sugar with me in my backpack. And a beer.
Artificial sweeteners are the upcoming, next transfats issue.
They’re full of sound medical advice, like wearing masks or mass experimentation with mRNA technology.
Indeed.
It’ll probably be saturated fat. It’s far more common in meat than plant’s, vegetable oil, nuts, seeds etc. mostly contain slightly healthier unsaturated fat. This will be an excuse to try and force people to reduce their consumption of “planet harming” meat and dairy.
There is no clinical evidence that saturated fats are “unhealthy” or that unsaturated fats are you ”healthy”.
These claims have been debunked, and relied on very poor quality so-called research.
They are being strongly linked to the onset of alzheimers.
Everything is linked to Alzheimers.
Okay to top up on Aspartame in most sugar free drinks. Its only a powerful nerve toxin, nothing to see here!
It must also be said that processed sugar is also not good for you, but its wrong to even try to legislate on stuff like this.
Educate people, show them the healthy options, encourage healthy lifestyles, but people will still choose what they want.
Its funny how the healthy options are always the most expensive – neither classics Coke/Pepsi (processed sugar) or Coke Zero/Pepsi Max (Aspartame) or Diet Coke/Diet Pepsi (Saccharin) are “good” for you – water that is pure is good for you, fruit juices with no additives are good for you!
What’s not clear from the article is how they would even enforce it, because it’s going to take more than placing a sticker on a machine. What’s to stop people just going back and pressing the button for another full sugar version? Unless somebody’s hanging round the machine, monitoring who’s having what, which is clearly not practical when it’s busy. It’s all just very petty and totally pointless anyway. People will just go home and consume a full 2 litre bottle of sugary pop if they want, and who’s to stop them?
Just another aspect of the ‘control’ agenda Mogs.
I am sure Starmers new digital I.D will stop the abuse of free carbonated drinks and sweets etc above a specified Chris Witty ration such that Starmer can build a super slim race, just like he is. (not)
Yes, simple. Just scan your digital ID when refilling with any drink and it will dispense the drink deemed best for your health (after taking into account the meal you ordered, your weekly shopping habits and any other drink purchases you may have made that day). Hopefully it will monitor your “steps” and factor that information into the calculation too, before going on to recommend what time you need to go to bed and get up the next day. Welcome to UKtopia. You will love it. (That’s an instruction, not an observation.)
😀😃😀
IU suspect Nandos’ lawyers have advised thay put up these statements to prevent them being in breach of nanny state laws. I doubt Nandos cares at all how much Coke you drink and I doubt they would enforce.
Exactly just ignore it and refill as you please
Well quite soon you’ll need your digital I’d card to get your drink… Problem solved
Another nanny state law to be ignored. I am sure before this government leaves office there will be many many more coming our way.
I got a free cup of coffee for shopping at Morrison’s this morning and when I went to redeem my voucher I noticed that there was a notice on the coffee machine banning unlimited top-ups on hot choc and mocha.
The difference was that they blamed the EU for the rule.
Aren’t we all fed up with our taxes being paid to people who have nothing better to do than tell us how to live our lives? what to eat, who to see, what to think, write, etc. There are too many of them on the payroll and they have to justify their existence. Here is the thing, why not let people decide for themselves? if they choose to get fat, smoke, drink too much consequently ruin their health let them. The NHS is one of the largest employers in the world, so there is no excuse that they cannot treat the tax paying public. Who they should not be treating free of charge is the individual who is not a British citizen and who has not contributed sufficient taxes. If I go to America, Australia, UAE, and Europe in fact any other country and I fall ill, I have to have insurance or the funds to pay. But not here we give free health care to the world. It is not for an NHS Doctor to decide that they can spend our money by giving free care and drugs for which they the Doctor do not pay or own. In… Read more »
The dolts’ micro-management of our lives has now entered the lunatic phase.
Ibuprofen. Limited to a certain small quantity per transaction and per card per day.
If you want to be a racist climate and science-denying white supremacist by avoiding these silly restrictions to get more than what Nanny says you can have, just go around a few times and pay with a different card each time, or use cash, with the self checkout and/or different checkout person if the first one remembers you and decides to be a Little Hitler with you.
In France you can’t buy Ibuprofen off the shelf. So I stock up every time I visit the UK. And the security checkers at the airports don’t bat an eyelid.
Don’t worry, Nanny, I’m not addicted to Ibuprofen.
Imagine the control the blob would have if they removed all paracetamol and ibuprofen products from the shelves here and you could only get it in limited quantities from a chemist by showing your digital ID.
Most of “sugar-free” products, and not just drinks, are made palatable by adding highly carcinogenic sweeteners.
As such, we have diabetes v cancer.
Lifestyle can prevent diabetes by moderating sugar intake. As there is no warning on the “sugar-free” deadly products, sugar-eaters are the winners.
The Nando’s hypocrisy is further exposed by the fact that their tasty dishes are based on cholesterol-induced transfats, the result of cooking oils on high heat. Nando food should come with a health warning.
Maybe the authorities want more malleable citizens, weakened by toxic sweeteners, seed oils and the rest
Sugar and fat do not cause obesity, however, toxic medications in utero, post-natal and during childhood are indeed linked to chronic metabolic, neurodevelopmental and vascular diseases. It’s not only meds like Tylenol (acetaminophen), but also vaccines. For those doubters, here’s one of only a handful of studies that examines the long-term health outcomes of vaccinated vs unvaccinated children: “Impact of Childhood Vaccination on Short and Long-Term Chronic Health Outcomes in Children: A Birth Cohort Study” – 18,468 participants – 10-year follow-up period – The median number of vaccines was 18 – overall vaccinated 2.5 times more likely to suffer a chronic illness – 57% of vaccinated developed at least 1 chronic health condition – 17% of unvaccinated developed at least 1 chronic health condition – vaccination independently associated with increased risk of developing a chronic health condition (hazard ration 2.53, CI 2.16 – 2.96) There were zero chronic health conditions associated with an increased risk in the unvaccinated group. Statistical comparisons could not be conducted for certain conditions (e.g. ADHD, diabetes etc) because there were zero cases in the unvaccinated group! The religious cult of virology, and its dedicated disciples, will never admit the sacred vaccines (and medications in general)… Read more »
Sugar and fat do cause obesity, in that the vast amount of overweight people become that way due to excess caloric intake relative to expenditure. The 1st law of thermodynamics does not relate to pharmaceuticals/vaccines. If an Olympic athlete suddenly had to quit due to injury and became sedentary as a result, no more training sessions, no more competitions, and they didn’t adjust their diet accordingly, just kept eating the exact same way, of course these people would gain weight over time. I appreciate it’s sometimes more complex than simple ‘calories in vs calories out’, for instance: in the context of wonky hormones, such as women going through the menopause can find it more tricky to lose fat due to all sorts of biological changes taking place. Also, ingesting 200 cals from broccoli vs 200 cals in the form of ice cream is going to have your body responding very differently. But for the most part, too much of the highly palatable, calorie-dense junk is going to be problematic for most people over time. I’d say even before worrying about weight gain, worry about inflammation, as this is where all illness stems from. The trouble is, signs of this don’t… Read more »
“Sugar and fat do cause obesity, in that the vast amount of overweight people become that way due to excess caloric intake relative to expenditure.”
Then the cause is over-consumption, not what is consumed.
Sugars are carbohydrates which like all carbohydrates are metabolised to glucose to be used immediately as an energy source. If not required, the glucose is converted into glycogen which is stored in the liver and muscles to act as a quick release source of glucose as required.
If glycogen storage is full, the glucose is converted to fat.
Foodstuffs containing carbohydrates, including in the form of sugars or which anyway end up as sugar (glucide) in the body:- root vegetables, legumes, cereals, fruits, milk.
Having a sugar free diet is impossible and would be fatal. And “healthy” snacks and drinks to avoid sugar – don’t.
Calorific intake: everything is “calorific”. Protein (meat) has a high calorific value, yet under normal circumstances it does not convert to fat. It does build/repair tissue particularly muscle, so weight gain among athletes is attributed to increased muscle density.
In response to your sweeping generalisation about vaccines, I would raise the example of smallpox, eradicated through the use of vaccination. No-one suffers or dies from smallpox now. Diphtheria is no longer the threat it once was, thanks again to vaccination. I would agree that the risks of some vaccines outweigh the benefits, especially when rushed through without adequate testing like the mRNA vaccines for SARS-CoV-2, but the balance does tip the other way too.
Smallpox declined significantly in England and Wales prior to vaccination programmes, as did other diseases because disease is spread by poor hygiene, poor sanitation, over-crowded living conditions and poor nourishment – in other words poverty.
Common diseases were eradicated in wealthier societies before vaccinations.
As for Smallpox: an outbreak in the mid-1800s in certain northern cities resulted in compulsory vaccination, then riots when death rates increased with vaccination, Compulsory vaccination was stopped, death rates declined, the epidemic stopped.
And Smallpox is not always fatal with a good survival rate, so natural immunity developed.
You might be right. Trouble is we can’t trust governments to test the medicines thoroughly and act accordingly. I believe the MMR vaccine has never been tested against a control group who were given a saline placebo for instance.
Can you state the source for this?
Referring to “nanny state rules” IMO makes it sound irritating but innocuous. It’s anything but innocuous.
We know that, but it helps take the wind out of “Nanny’s” sails, when we remind her that she ain’t – and never will be – Mama Bear.
Exactly – ‘police state’ / ‘thought police’ would be more suitable
”Obesity” is like “racism”, “Far Right” – devalued by overuse and an empty signifier with its actual defined clinical meaning replaced by whatever anyone wants it to mean with no actual definition.
One more excuse for increased bureaucracy and Government control.
Second best thing to do then would be for everyone in the party to drink tap water (free). First best option would be to have the dinner party at home and totally control what you eat, how it’s cooked and what you drink with it.