HEALTH chiefs plan to slash the calories in family favourites like pizza, burgers, crisps and ready meals by a fifth to battle Britain's bulging waistlines.

英国公共卫生部门为减缓国民肥胖问题计划大力削减食物中的卡路里，其中包括披萨、汉堡、薯片和方便食品等颇受英国家庭喜爱的食物，减少量预计为五分之一。

Public Health England says food firms must either use less fattening ingredients or cut product sizes to help beat obesity.

公共卫生部门表示，食品公司的配料脂肪含量必须降低，不然就缩小食品，以此抵抗肥胖病。

Supermarkets, manufacturers and high street chains such as McDonald’s will be expected to hit the 20 per cent target in the next five years.

五年内，超市、批发市场、还有麦当劳这样的街头连锁都要达到目标，将食物中的脂肪降低20%。

But critics yesterday said the PHE drive is nanny state madness — and predicted shoppers will be ripped off as manufacturers cut sizes without reducing prices.

但是昨天有评论人士称公共卫生部门的行为过多干预了国民生活，一旦卖家缩小食物，价格却无变动时，消费者数量就会锐减。

Christopher Snowdon, of the Institute of Economic Affairs, said: “The nanny state zealots at PHE have lost the plot.

经济事务研究所的克里斯托弗·斯诺登说：“公共卫生部门真把自己当国民奶妈了，真是疯了。”

“The only way companies can meet these targets is by shrinking products. We’ve seen this happen with chocolate bars and other sugary treats.

“各公司要想达标，只能缩小食物。巧克力棒和个别糖果已经缩小了。”

“Now the Great British Rip Off is being extended to all food products.”PHE says children eat up to 500 too many calories a day — equivalent to an extra meal.

“这种大敲竹杠的行为已经蔓延到所有食物了。”公共卫生部门说，儿童每天额外摄入的卡路里达500，相当于多吃了一顿饭。

And two in three adults and one in three children are too fat, costing the NHS at least £6billion annually.

三分之二的成人过于肥胖，三分之一的儿童也有肥胖症状，每年花费英国国家医疗服务体系至少600万英镑。

PHE says if the 20 per cent reduction is met by 2024, 35,000 lives could be saved over the next 25 years.

公共卫生部门说，到2024年，如果20%的目标能够达成，未来25年间会有35000人获救。

It is targeting 13 popular foods that are not already in the Government’s sugar reduction programme.

该部门已经瞄准了13种广受欢迎的食物，这13中食物尚未列入政府减糖项目。

Officials have hinted food firms who do not slim down their products could be hit by taxes or new regulations.

官方说法称，不减少脂肪含量的食品公司可能会面临缴税和新政策的处罚。

PHE's chief nutritionist Dr Alison Tedstone said: “We have moved on from obesity affecting a small section of society, it is the norm now.”

公共卫生部门首席营养师艾莉森·泰德斯通说：“肥胖症正危害着社会的一个小群体，我们已经开始行动了，这种行动现在就是常态。”

（翻译：阿忙）