Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of what will constitute a meal deal for the purposes of the high fat, sugar and salt (HFSS) regulations.

Offers commonly referred to as 'meal deals' or "dine in for two", are out of scope of volume price promotion restrictions, where foods are promoted as intending to be consumed together.

The "relevant special offer" definition provided in the Regulations deals with meal deals (which may include items of specified food) which are generally targeted as lunch options for adults to consume on the go that day or "dine in for 2" type offers that are reducing the cost of "complete" meals for multiple people, rather than being stockpiled at home; and they aim to reduce the cost of a single meal.

The Regulations refer to these offers as a "relevant special offer" which means an offer of a discounted price is permitted for multiple items promoted as intended to be consumed together as, or as part of, a single meal by one person or by two or more people together (as, for example, in “meal deal” or “dine in for two” offers). However, all specified food, whether part of a meal deal or not, cannot be placed in restricted locations.