I'm fairly sure you've seen this, but for columnist's Giles Coren's excoriating letter to The Times sub editors dwells heavily on this question www.google.com/amp/s/amp.th...

Read Giles Coren's letter to Times subs

Read Giles Coren's irate letter to Times subeditors

*food columnist, not for

He demonstrates as much reasonableness as he does talent.

Alas, I don't think his rant has done him any favours...

Ha! I am always correcting "copy editors" for similar such changes in my books. It's especially bad if they try to over-Americanise the prose or have absolutely no knowledge of anything that isn't American. *screams*