McDonald's force Olympics bosses to ban all other restaurants from selling chips... unless they're served with fish

Hundreds of restaurants and food retailers expected to be affected

Memo about the change said retailers don't back the decision

All British favourites must be served without chips - except for fish

Hundreds of food outlets at Olympic venues have been forced to take chips off the menu, because of

Hundreds of food outlets at Olympic venues have been forced to take chips off the menu, because of a demand from sponsor McDonald's.

Olympic chiefs have banned all 800 food retailers at the 40 Games venues across Britain from dishing up chips because of 'sponsorship obligations.'

The only loophole in the agreement, announced in a memo to staff, is that chips can be served with fish - safeguarding Britain's most famous dish.



But is seems the bosses have predicted an outrage about the decision, emphasising that the move was not backed by the food retailers.



The memo reads: 'Due to sponsorship obligations with McDonalds, Locog have instructed the catering team they are no longer allowed to serve chips on their own anywhere within the Olympic park.

'The only loophole to this is if it is served with fish.'

'Please understand this is not the decision of the staff serving up your meals, who given the choice would gladly give it you however they are not allowed to.

'This is being escalated through to the directors of L2012C and Locog and the IOC.



'Please do not give the staff grief; this will only lead to us removing fish and chips completely.

'Everyone has a right to work in a none abusive environment.'

Commercial partners Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Cadbury, Nature Valley and Heineken will be the only branded products sold at the games.

The 800 food outlets will serve a mixture of international dishes and great British dishes, with t he organising committee boasting that food outlets would 'celebrate the heritage and diversity of British regional products and recipes.'

But the chip ban mean visitors from all over the world will be stopped from enjoying firm British favourites, including sauage and chips, gammon, egg and chips, lasgane and chips, steak and chips and chicken and chips.

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Chips will only be allowed to be sold with fish, saving the British classic

Steak and chips will also have to be crossed off the menu Visitors to the Olympic venues won't be able to tuck into British sausage and chips Controversy already surrounded some of the sponsors of the Olympic Games, with organisers criticised for accepting deals with companies like McDonald's and Coca-Cola because they conflict with the 'Olympic ideal'.

Jenny Jones, a Green Party assembly member, said the Games have provided 'a glut of sponsored messages for high calorie food and drink that are at odds with the Olympian athletic ideal.’

Last month McDonald's revealed pictures of its biggest restaurant in the world, newly build in London's Olympic Park where the strongest, fittest and fastest athletes in the world will compete.

The vast two-storey restaurant will serve up to 1,200 customers an hour and sell £3million of fast food during the Games.

At 3,000 sq ft the building, next to the Olympic Stadium, is bigger than the current largest McDonald’s, in Moscow.

The new McDonald's restaurant at the Olympic Park in Stratford will be the biggest in the world

During the Games it is expected to sell £3million pounds worth of fast-food

The Russian restaurant will regain its title on September 9, however, when the London branch is bulldozed after the Paralympics closing ceremony.

Olympics sponsor Visa also came under fire from critics last month after effectively banning the use of rival cards at Games venues. It has ordered the closure of all cashpoints which accept Mastercard or American Express, and non-Visa customers will not even be able to use their cards to pay for goods at checkouts. The card giant, which has exclusive rights over the Games' payment system, will disable 27 LINK machines inside venues and replace them with just eight Visa-only cashpoints. Marc Gander, of the Consumer Action Group, said at the time: ' ‘This is shocking. It is a privilege to be a sponsor of the Olympics and they are abusing that privilege by exploiting consumers.' Florists have even been the subject of a crack-down on the anuthorised use of the word 'Olympics' or the famous five rings. Lisa Cross, 33, from Stoke-on-Trent, was stunned when she was visited by trading standards in May and told she could be sued by official Games sponsors for her tissue paper tribute to the Games, and told to immediately remove it. Florist Lisa Cross was been ordered to take down her Olympic themed window display after being warned she is breaching copyright laws

VIDEO: See inside the world's largest McDonalds - INSIDE the Olympic Park in London!...