27-MIN LUNCH

LUNCH breaks are becoming a battle against the clock which British workers are losing, a new report warned yesterday.

A catering industry survey has found that the average lunch "hour" is now only 27 minutes - nine minutes shorter than in 2000.

If the trend continues at the same rate lunch breaks could be reduced to less than five minutes by 2007.

Productivity pressures have increased so much in the past two years that getting out of the office for a bite is virtually impossible for more and more employees.

The canteen is now used by 35 per cent of staff four or five times a week compared with 16 per cent in 2000. And 41 per cent choose their lunch on the basis of speed compared with 20 per cent two years ago.

The Eurest Lunchtime Report 2002 also reveals that only 49 per cent of women take a lunch break, but 63 per cent of men ensure they get away from their desk. The findings, based on a nationwide survey of 2,500 workers, also show that taste, health and quality are the key factors in employees' choice of what to eat, not portion size.

Sixty-six per cent of diners select food for its taste, with 49 per cent taking the healthy option.

Tea is drunk by 41 per cent, coffee by 33 per cent. Only one in 100 workers have alcohol at lunchtime compared with one in three in 2000.

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