Will calorie counts on menus make us healthier?
Around two-thirds of adults in the UK are either overweight or obese – and this increases the risk of chronic health conditions including type 2 diabetes. Nowadays, a significant proportion of the food people eat is consumed outside of the home. People are also eating out more often – the UK population consumes more than 100 million takeaways and ready-made meals in a week1! Evidence suggests that people dining out consume 200 more calories per day than when eating at home2 and so it is clear that there needs to be a mechanism to reduce the amount people consume when eating out if current obesity rates are to be halted and reversed.
As part of the government’s childhood obesity plan for action, the whole food industry (restaurants, retailers and manufacturers) has been challenged to slash calories in foods by 20% by 2024 but this alone will not tackle the complex issue of obesity. Interestingly, 79% of people agree that menus should include the number of calories in food and drinks3. Although many businesses already provide nutritional information on their websites only a few provide calorie labelling at the point of choice. The point of choice can include menu boards, printed menus, chalk boards or display tags. So, with this in mind, the government proposes to introduce legislation to mandate consistent calorie labelling in England for the out of home sector.
Calorie menu labelling has already been mandatory in Ireland for a couple of years. A study into the effect of this in a hospital staff/visitor canteen found that customers made healthier choices and fewer calories were purchased, particularly by males4.
Putting calories on your menus is a public health initiative that can even benefit your business. A recent Diabetes UK poll found that 60% of people are more likely to spend their money in an eating establishment that provides traffic light labelling, and almost as many said they would be more likely to eat where there is calorie labelling on food menus/packaging5.
Displaying the amount of calories on food and drinks for sale however is a form of food labelling and the most important rule of food labelling is that the consumer must not be misled. It is therefore important for food businesses to have clear procedures and methods in place to ensure that calorie information is kept accurate. If ingredients in a menu item change, the calorie information should be updated as soon as possible.
Obtaining the calorie values for all your menu items might seem a daunting task at first, but with help from AB Food Nutrition this can be done quickly, easily and cost-effectively. We calculate the nutrient profile of your recipes based on the ingredients, quantities and cooking methods used. We can even provide suggestions on how to improve the nutritional profile of your recipes so that you can offer customers healthier choices. For more information, please contact Anne.
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