RESTAURANTS have reacted with anger to a new initiative allowing people to buy fruit and veg from greengrocers using tickets-restaurant.

The decree - which was published yesterday in the Journal Officiel - is designed to promote healthy eating.

It means workers whose employers give them tickets-restaurant to pay for lunch can buy any fruit, veg or prepared salad from a greengrocer. The only rule is that it must be ready to eat.

The national union of fruit and veg retailers, UNFD, said it was delighted that the decree had been passed and it would be sending information sheets to all of its members on how to accept and redeem the vouchers.

However restaurant owners condemned the move. The Synhorcat restaurant union said the ticket-restaurant was "becoming a form of money like any other".

Stricter rules on the vouchers' use were introduced on March 1 to stop people buying their weekly supermarket shopping with them, following complaints from restaurants that the vouchers were being abused.

Supermarkets and hypermarkets are now only be allowed to accept the vouchers as payment for sandwiches and ready-to-eat meals and salads. Retailers could be banned from accepting the vouchers entirely if found to be ignoring the new rules.

Many French employers provide tickets-restaurant to staff to contribute towards the cost of their lunchtime meal in a tax-efficient way.

Employees are entitled to one voucher for every day worked, up to a value of €8.65. Up to 60% is paid for by the company and is exempt from social charges.