KFC is right to take on the public health zealots

There was some good news for the people of Sunderland last month when local councillors managed to stop a small business from opening. They had received an application to open a Mexican takeaway restaurant on premises formerly occupied by a dog grooming salon on Tunstall Village Road. Spotting the words ‘Mexican cuisine’ in the temporary change of use application, the council concluded that the company would ‘not support or improve the health and wellbeing of local communities’ and turned it down.

Those who live in and around Tunstall Village Road may have been saved from having burritos within walking distance, but the residents of less fortunate communities remain at risk. The Times has just ‘revealed’ that Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) has been ‘thwarting efforts to stop fast-food outlets near schools’. According to Stephen Turnbull, Wakefield council’s director of public health, this has made his team ‘depressed’.