In many European countries it would probably be considered a taxable benefit for the employee, and would increase the employee taxes. Just as a background why some things are different across the pond.
It's a taxable benefit in the US too, I'm not sure where the parent's "tax writeoff" comment is coming from. Google actually got in some trouble recently for not reporting their free food to the IRS.
Certain teams at Apple get free dinners to boost morale when working late. This included a pretty nice catered meal once a week in my department. No doubt, this is common at industry leaders.
There was nothing stopping us from eating and going home. It's not as though someone was keeping watch over us and demanding work for food. I always felt respected and appreciated.
