Research from Public Health Wales found that three-quarters of lunchtime meal deals exceed the recommended level of calories and salt for lunch.

The least healthy lunchtime options contain two-thirds of daily calorie intake, more than 122% of daily fat intake, 149% of sugar and 112% of salt. The majority of dinnertime meal combinations exceed average energy requirements.

The researchers concluded that if someone bought an average meal deal for lunch five days a week, they would gain more than 6lbs (2.8kg) in a year. If they bought a high-calorie meal deal for lunch five days a week, they could gain 47lbs (21kg) in a year.

Neagle said the government would not ban temporary price reductions either but added: “Our aim is to rebalance our food environments so that the healthy choice becomes the easy choice.”