UK Restaurants to List Calorie Counts

By the end of June 2009, eighteen fast-food chains, restuarants and catering companies in the UK are set to follow the example of New York’s restaurants and print calorie information on their menus.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) (a goverment body) worked alongside the Department of Health to set strict criteria. The restaurant chains and catering companies taking part must:

• Show the number of calories in each portion in writing that is clear and at least as prominent as the name or price of the product
• Display calorie information for most of the food and drink they serve
• Print calorie information on menu boards, paper menus or on the edge of shelves

The FSA lauds the eighteen companies as “trailblazers” and says:

The list … includes workplace caterers, sit-down and quick-service restaurants, theme parks and leisure attractions, pub restaurants, cafes and sandwich chains.

(You can find the full list on the FSA’s site, Restaurants and caterers to display calories on menus.)

It’s particularly good news to see work canteens signed up to the scheme, with recent reports that desk jobs are partially responsible for rising obesity rates. The list also includes ISS Mediclean who supply a number of hospital restaurants in London: encouraging, as hospital restaurants are often criticised for not providing enough healthy options for visitors.

As Tim Smith (CEO of the FSA) says, the aim is to make sure that consumers have all the information they need to make a healthy choice:

Our aim is to ensure that consumers have better information so they can make informed choices to improve their diet when eating out, whether that is a snack on-the-go, a meal in a staff restaurant or at a table being served by a waiter.

And just for fun (not for a “what to eat” guide!) The Guardian has published The Pizza That Could Feed You For Two Days … which includes details of a 4,392 calorie pizza and a 2,130 calorie burger.