Brits are being 'put on a diet' as fast food chains could be ordered to 'calorie cap' meals.

Public Health England (PHE) has told fast-food chains and supermarket ready-meal makers to cut the calories in lunches and dinners to 600 calories, and breakfasts to 400, according to the The Times .

But the 'calorie cap' on chains such as KFC, McDonald's and Burger King could change your favourite meals forever, the Liverpool Echo reports.

To put things into context, a box meal from KFC currently has around 1400 calories while a Big Mac and regular fries has 845.

PHE's new initiative, which is essentially 'to put the country on a diet', is due out in March.

A box meal from KFC currently has around 1400 calories (file photo) (
Image:
KFC)

Alison Tedstone, PHE’s chief nutritionist, told food bosses that 27% of UK adults are obese, 36% more were overweight and meals “out of home” were a key cause “people eat 200-300 calories too many a day".

She added: "We will work with the industry to reduce the calories in everyday food."

And the calorie cap isn't all.

Fast food meals could change (file photo)

Research has also shown the UK's alcohol rules are too lax, with even drinking one pint or glass of wine a day poisoning the brain and raising the risk of dementia.

Current health guidelines recommend that men and women should not regularly drink more than two units of alcohol a day.

But the new study in the Journal of Public Health found that consuming more than one unit of alcohol a day is 'detrimental to cognitive performance', especially among older people.

One unit is equivalent to around a third of a pint of beer or half a glass of red wine, according to DrinkAware.