I'm finding the advice you've been given a bit odd unless there has been some very recent new ruling by HMRC.
I'm a sole trader and I've always claimed for:
meals/snacks when I used to drive a delivery round in support of my shop and was away from base for more than four hours or so;
meals/snacks (and accommodation if necessary) and parking charges when attending conferences or visiting suppliers at a distance to select stock or discuss issues or even just to do a bit of sleuthing round other shops (at a substantial distance from my own obviously) to see what they stocked and how they displayed it;
an evening meal if I was working exceptionally long hours at my shop and needed to go out and eat before returning to work late into the evening or even the small hours on occasion (my business is 20 miles from my home along a busy route so no chance of just popping home for a meal);
meals/snacks if I was running a stall at an event at a distance from my business or at some sort of exhibition or trade show or visiting such events as a potential customer;
All these claims have only been as genuinely required by circumstances. Obviously I expect to take a lunch (or even a breakfast if in a hurry) to my shop or to make one there (but the kettle, microwave, toaster and refrigerator and the odd mug or plate or bits of cutlery or washing up bowl in the shop 'kitchen' have gone in as businesses expenses over the years too). If expecting to work very late I'd usually take food from home for an evening meal too. I prefer home cooked stuff to 'takeaway' and when really under pressure I don't have time to go out even for quick meal, but there are exceptions to every rule and if the hours I'm working are such that I just can't organise packed food or whatever for myself then I'd expect to be able to claim for a 'reasonable' meal;
Over time the number of such claims have gone down a lot, and were never that high in the first place, partly because I no longer drive the delivery round, partly because I now rarely go to 'outside' selling or exhibiting events, partly because I've got the microwave, kettle and toaster in the shop store room : - )
My accountant always said that such 'reasonable' expenditure was okay. A couple of years into running my business we did have a VAT Inspection. I asked the Inspector particularly about such claims and she was very definite that 'reasonable' claims were okay. She mentioned seeing lots of receipts for McDonald's and coffee shops when doing inspections. I specifically asked her if my odd receipt for a meal at something like a Beefeater or a Pizza Express or a pleasant but not OTT Chinese Restaurant or, of course, one of those extremely expensive but very basic eateries at a trade show was acceptable and she replied without missing a beat 'oh yes that's perfectly reasonable' but added that dinner at The Savoy would require a lot of justification : - )
The point this inspector particularly made was of the reasonableness of a claim and the reasonableness of your overall level of claims.
Even if I was out on business all day. I now have to travel, and buy lunch out. Which is tricky when you spend all day in a field in the middle of nowhere (usually at least 50 miles away, sometimes more).
