Fitzgerald wants crisps and fizzy drinks hospital ban

PATIENTS should be banned from being able to choose fizzy drinks and crisps from hospital vending machines, Fine Gael last night insisted.

The party wants a similar bar extended to school children as part of a top-down drive to enforce healthier eating habits.

Fine Gael Senate leader and health spokesperson Frances Fitzgerald demanded “urgent” action following recent studies of the effects of high salt diets.