The Christchurch City Council is phasing out fatty foods and sugary drinks from being sold at its events and through its cafes at recreation facilities and libraries.

Hot chips, battered hot dogs and sugar-ladened drinks will soon be outlawed at Christchurch City Council-run events and facilities.

The council on Thursday decided to phase out fatty foods and sugary drinks from being sold at its events and through its cafes at recreation facilities and libraries.

The council's new healthy food and drink policy stops short of banning foods high in saturated fat, added sugar, salt and energy, and instead aims to phase them out and make healthy food options more readily available.

The policy encourages vendors and lessees to sell more vegetables, fruit, and foods that are high in fibre and low in saturated fats and work toward eliminating foods of poor nutritional value.

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Events not organised by the council, but run on council land will not be impacted by the policy.

123RF The Christchurch City Council wants to encourage more healthy eating.

Vending machines inside council facilities will be impacted by the changes, but cultural events will be exempt.

Councillor Aaron Keown argued that eating a hot dog with sauce at an event was part of New Zealand's culture. It was even printed on tea towels.

"Is this not a race-based policy?"

Council social policy principal advisor Paul Cottam said people going to cultural events expected to eat cultural foods.

A trial of the healthy food and drink policy will happen at the Children's Day event on March 3. Other affected council-run events will include New Year's Eve, Sparks, the Fireworks Spectacular, Botanic D'Lights and the KidsFest Parade.

Keown said the policy was a dangerous step for the council to be taking.

"How far does our reach go into people's lives?"

He said kids should be able to have a treat and if they were that addicted they could buy a scoop of chips on the way to the event, rather than have the "lentil burger" the council was offering.

Other councillors did not share his views.

Cr Phil Clearwater said the council's key role was to show leadership and try to reduce obesity and diabetes.

Cr Jamie Gough said he was the last person who would advocate for anything supporting a nanny state, but the new policy simply showed the council's desire to lean toward healthier options.

"The secret to being a good councillor is making a decision that is the right thing to do. It's fundamentally the right thing to do."

Cr Mike Davidson said the council was not becoming the food police, it was trying to encourage people to eat healthy food because it was the right thing to do.

The bigger issue was the advertising from fast food outlets, he said.

Cr Yani Johanson agreed, saying he wanted the council to address the issue of signage, especially at bus stops where fast food advertising was prolific.

"We do get money from fast food advertising from our bus stops and we need to do something on this."

Staff were asked to provide an update on advertising on public infrastructure in March.

The policy will be formally implemented at council facilities on April 1, 2019, but it will take longer to implement at events because many being held during the 2018-19 summer season are already well planned.