Calories must now appear on menus for larger hospitality businesses. Is this the right way to tackle rising obesity levels?

Hospitality businesses with 250 employees or more now have to list calories on menus. The new Government regulations were laid in parliament in May last year and from April 6 a breakdown of the calories in each dish will be mandatory. 

The Government said the legislation has been brought in to tackle rising obesity levels in the UK. A spokeswoman for the Department of Health told CODE: “Obesity is one of the biggest health issues we face as a country, which is why we are taking decisive action that will level up the health of the nation and help people live longer lives.

“Clear food labelling plays an important role in helping people make healthier choices for themselves and their families. Displaying calorie information on menus can help people consume fewer calories when eating out or getting a takeaway, as well as encouraging businesses to provide lower calorie options for their customers.”

Many believe the new rules couldn’t have come at a worse time. There are also those who think that listing calories can be damaging to mental health, especially for diners who suffer from eating disorders. 

Oxeye chef patron Sven-Hanson Britt is not a fan of the legislation and recently tweeted his reasoning. We asked him to share his thoughts here.

Monday. Three flat whites deep. I’m at Bloomberg Arcade’s Caravan and the brunch menu is looking great. I fancy the 871 kcal bacon chop, but it’s out, so I have the 1101 kcal pork belly and eggs. Suddenly I’m pissed off. Not at Caravan – I really like Caravan. The staff are always great and the food is approachable, but now the menu is laden with calorie listings. 

I recently spoke to a friend and fellow chef about calories on menus. It’s been playing on my mind a lot and I think it will be damaging. On the surface, keeping tabs of the calories you consume might look like a good thing to help our nation’s fight with obesity, but it really isn’t.

Our national obsession with calories isn’t healthy. Sure, limiting calories is an important tool in fighting obesity but it should work alongside a number of other tools to ensure people lose weight in a safe and pragmatic way. Focusing purely on the potential energy content of food puts all the focus in the wrong place and can easily increase the growing issues we have with eating disorders and mental health problems. 

The idea is bad for business, too. Probably the best hotel dining room in the country, The Ritz,  has had to make these changes. So many others you might not expect to be impacted have had to do the same.

Will a high-end restaurant change the way it works to ensure they stick to the accuracy of the calorie count? No, no it won’t. Will the head chef refrain from whisking in an extra knob of butter to ensure the sauce is balanced? Of course not. Will the pastry chef fill the choux bun all the way despite it being 15g too much? Of course. What happens when it’s 11:59, the deliveries still haven’t arrived and the lunch menu is thrown together from what’s available? Who’s getting an accurate calorie reading then? No-one. So what’s the point? 

Creating great food is about balance, intuition, taste, touch, desire and creativity. Creating a great restaurant is about fun, warmth, deliciousness and spontaneity. To put a law in place that limits all of these things marks a sad day for our industry.

If the Government insists on giving people calorie info, allowing them to make informed decisions without having the knowledge or education to understand what healthy eating actually is or the financial ability to actually eat healthily, then it’s doomed from the start. 

How do we fight obesity then? We need deep and meaningful education from a young age; we need to change the way we feed our kids; we need to eliminate food poverty so that EVERYONE can afford to eat healthily at home; and we need to teach an understanding of nutrition and seasonality. This will take a generation to change but we need to implement change now. 

Counting calories is not the answer, especially when you leave it to the chefs.

Read more industry news here