In August 2006, the Soil Association launched a report, 'Taking our children for a ride', which looked at the food and drink on offer for families at the UK's top tourist attractions. Read the summary below, download the full report or listen to the podcast.

When it comes to healthy food and drink at the country's top family tourist attractions, our children are being taken for a ride. A snap shot survey of the food and drink available at 14 major tourist attractions across England and Wales, carried out by the Soil Association and Organix, found that junk food is king and there is a depressing lack of healthy food and drink choices available.

Coming bottom of our 'Junk Food Villains versus Good Food Heroes' rankings are Camelot Theme Park and New MetroLand, which each scored a miserable 1 point out of a possible 25 on the days we visited. Our mystery mum found no fruit at these locations and a woeful lack of healthy food or drink.

In Camelot Theme Park, there were no healthy drinks other than water to be found, and children's food choices were limited to burgers, nuggets, sausages and other processed foods. At New MetroLand she was bowled over by the junk-food-deals and lack of healthy alternatives as well as the 'Eat As Much As You Can' buffets and 'All You Can Fizzibly Drink' promotions, which surround the attraction.

Scoring just one point more were the pleasure beaches of Blackpool and Great Yarmouth. After a record-breaking 3 hours 45 minutes at Blackpool the only fruit our mystery mum found here was some melon served with champagne and prawns in a bar. Unfortunately, the one fruit bar on site was closed and the only café, out of 35 possible outlets, that sells fruit, had run out the day we visited. Great Yarmouth stunned our mum when the only pure juices she found were hidden at one burger outlet and in the pub.

It does not have to be like this. Our top ranking 'Good Food Hero' is Cornwall's Eden Project. Here as many as 1.2 million people a year enjoy a choice of good quality food, and many products are fair trade or local and some are organic. However, even at the Eden Project our mum said the children's lunch box could be improved by including some fresh fruit and vegetables and removing some of the processed foods. Beyond this survey, the National Trust and Center Parcs also show what is possible and that families do choose and enjoy good food.

Although things may have changed at each venue since the day our mystery mum visited, only 2 out of the 14 tourist attractions notched up more that half marks. In general, we found that hot dogs, burgers and chips still dominate the choice on offer. It is also difficult to find a portion of vegetables if you don't care for mushy peas. It took our researcher over an hour to find any fresh fruit at eight venues. Based on our experience, parents visiting Flamingo Land, New MetroLand, Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach or Camelot Theme Park need not bother looking: there is no fruit to be found.

Poor quality junk food dominates the food at these family-day-out venues, which are visited by 16 million people each year. If you are spending the last day of your summer break at Alton Towers, Chessington or Thorpe Park, expect to be bombarded with advertising which promotes the consumption of large quantities of junk food and fizzy drinks. We suggest, therefore, that you take a packed lunch.

All this at a time when record levels of obesity threaten to cripple the NHS, and reduce the life expectancy of some children to less than their parents. Now that school meals are back on track serving and promoting healthy, nutritious food, other child-centred venues must stop encouraging the over-consumption of junk food, and at least offer parents and children a healthy choice.

We don't want to be spoil sports and stop families having fun and eating treats when out and about. But as the nation is eating out more than ever before, our top tourist attractions and their caterers have a responsibility to offer parents a healthy alternative to junk food and drinks, and to ensure that they help develop a food culture which is not dominated by burgers, chips and sugary fizzy drinks. At a minimum, free fresh water should be readily available from water fountains (as it is in many public parks, and now has to be by law in all schools). In addition, tourist attractions should ensure that healthy options are always available and promoted, and that the quality of ingredients and cooking methods improve.

As the market for organic food in the UK grows, at some 30% per year, attractions such as the National History Museum, Center Parcs, Eden Project and London Zoo, have begun sourcing organic food as well as improving the quality of their meals. Others should follow their lead and keep up with the expectations of their visitors.