Calorie Counting

Over a bacon and egg naan at Dishoom on Friday morning (after Talia Prince’s excellent residency at White City House the night before), I was reminded that in April it will become law for restaurants with more than 250 employees to put the calorie information on menus, writes Adam Hyman.

Do I care how many calories there are in my breakfast? No. Should I? My personal trainer would say yes. I’m not entirely sure about the reasoning here, and why the benchmark was 250 employees. I do know the introduction of this menu labelling couldn’t come at a worse time for the industry. I don’t think anyone disagrees that the health of the nation is incredibly important – the past two years show this – but these are more Nanny State tactics that heap responsibility onto businesses, many of which have limited resources. 

Educating people about what they eat is important but this is not the right approach. Not only is this an added burden and cost for thousands of restaurants after a torrid two years, but calorie labelling also discourages a kitchen to regularly change its menu; places more of an emphasis on how many calories a dish has as opposed to the nutrition in it (fewer calories does not necessarily mean healthier); and presents a minefield to those with eating disorders. Let’s face it – it also takes the joy out of going out for a meal.

Many of us often use hospitality as a break from the norm. We are aware that schnitzels and double cheeseburgers aren’t the healthiest of dishes, but we order them anyway because they taste nice and indulgence is sometimes good. If we start to ‘dish shame’ when people dine out, I worry it will stop people going out to eat. Small, neighbourhood restaurants should always be supported, but here, medium-sized groups are being unjustly penalised.

Read more industry news here