Restaurants that struggle to serve up ethical meals

The restaurants with the best and worst ethical records are named today.

Strada, Café Rouge, Bella Italia and TGI Friday's are criticised for the way they or their parent companies treat animals, the environment, staff or suppliers.

The chains are the bottom of a list of 26 brands published by Ethical Consumer magazine, scoring only two points out of 20.

Gourmet Burger Kitchen, Loch Fyne and Piccolino's come top - but only have 8.5 out of 20. Loch Fyne is praised for its sustainable fish-buying policy and for switching to renewable electricity. Gourmet Burger sells some organic, locally sourced and free-range products.

Independents praised include Acorn House in King's Cross, the Duke of Cambridge in Islington and Bread and Roses in Clapham. But JD Wetherspoons and Hungry Horse are criticised for selling steaks as British beef which came from cattle raised in Brazil and Africa. Nando's, Garfunkel's and TGI Friday's were found to be selling children's meals high in fat, salt and sugar. The group that owns Tragus - the parent firm of Bella Italia, Café Rouge and Strada - is Blackstone, which is criticised for building coal power stations on native American land.

TGI Friday's is owned by Carlson and bank ABN Amro, which financed a pipeline project in Africa said to have blocked farmers' access to land. A spokesman for Tragus said: "We are aware of the increasing importance of food sourcing and nutritional information. We continue to listen to customers."

A TGI Friday's spokesman said: "TGI Friday's UK changed ownership in 2007 and has made it a priority to review practices."