voluntary

Watch out fatties they're after you now.

Restaurants and work canteens will put calorie counts on menus and food manufacturers will promise to cut down on salt and artificial fats under a set of agreements to be announced today.

Andrew Lansley, the Health Secretary, believes that firms will be more likely to set ambitious targets for themselves if they are negotiated on a voluntary basis.

Don't worry though because this is only a voluntary thing and therefore not backed up by threats of punishment from the government.

If firms break their promises, the Government will however consider taking compulsory measures.

So the scheme which will hit small businesses hardest is voluntary unless it's not followed then it will become compulsory? That hardly sounds voluntary to me. And given that an earlier trial of this idea, in 2009 while Labour ran the government, didn't go down too well

Firms including KFC, Burger King and Pizza Hut quietly abandoned the project, and of the of the 18 companies involved in the trial, only Pret A Manger continues to display calories next to all products.

you can guess what's going to happen can't you? But don't for one minute think it will stop there.

“This is just the beginning, we have ambitious plans to do much more and hope that other companies will also get involved.”

Ambitious plans to do more? No doubt they will all be voluntary just like this scheme.