CRISPS, sweets, sugary drinks and puddings are to be banned from popular ‘meal deal’ promotions under a crackdown on junk food planned by the Scottish Government.

Ministers yesterday launched a public consultation on the idea, which would limit the options available to shoppers in places such as Boots and Marks & Spencer.

The government said the “ground breaking policy” would improve the nation’s health by cutting consumption of foods high in fat, sugar or salt.

Junk foods are linked to Type 2 diabetes, various forms of cancer, and cardiovascular disease.

Following on from a government report published in July, the consultation proposes sweeping curbs on the promotion and marketing of foods of “little or no nutritional benefit”.

These are identified as confectionery, crisps, cakes, pastries, puddings, sweet biscuits, soft drinks with added sugar and savoury foods, including prawn crackers and poppadoms.

Ministers wants views on targeting ice-cream and dairy desserts as well.

The government said it was considering restricting the promotion of junk food through multi-buys, free samples, in-store advertising, checkout displays, coupons and purchase reward schemes such as toys, loyalty card points, and competition entries.

The restrictions would apply to any place the foods were sold to the public, including all forms of shops, takeaways, home delivery, restaurants, sandwich shops and work canteens.

The plan says: “We are considering restricting promotions that involve the purchase of more than one product to receive an overall discounted price or the purchase of one product but receiving more than one product.

“A targeted [junk] food could not be part of a meal deal. If one or more were a targeted food, the products could not be sold at less than the sum of the individual prices.”

The government said it was considering restricting the promotion of junk foods through multi-buys, free samples, in-store advertising, checkout displays, coupons and purchase reward schemes such as toys, loyalty card points, and competition entries.

The restrictions would apply to any place the foods were sold to the public, including all stores, takeaways, home delivery, restaurants, sandwich shops and work canteens.

Public health minister Joe FitzPatrick said: “Eating a poor diet and being overweight or obese causes serious health problems, and it is clear that we must take decisive action.

“Restricting the in-store promotion and marketing of food high in fat, sugar or salt is crucial to tackling our nation’s damaging relationship with junk food.

“This is a ground-breaking policy and follows Scotland’s proud history of taking pioneering and ambitious public health actions, such as the smoking ban and minimum unit pricing for alcohol. We are consulting to deliver a policy that is proportionate and delivers positive outcomes.”

Professor Linda Bauld of Cancer Research UK added: “Junk food multi-buy offers encourage us to bulk buy and eat large quantities of unhealthy food, the consequences of which have become all too obvious in the nation’s growing waistlines. Obesity is the biggest preventable cause of cancer after smoking, responsible for 2,200 cases in Scotland every year.”

However there was also confusion as ministers last night climbed down on a ban on diners receiving free prawn crackers and poppadoms with take-away and restaurant meals.

Despite an explicit reference to them in the consultation, the government said the savoury foods were exempt when part of a main meal.

A spokesman said: “It is not our intention to restrict restaurants from including savoury foods, such as prawn crackers or poppadoms, as part of meals.”