Nutritional information should be legislation for all UK res

sheryllamb72

I find it so annoying when some restaurants don't provide that information!!

We're in the UK and I emailed a restaurant that we were going to (they pride themselves on having the best of the best Argentinian beef) and yet although they have a swanky new restaurant in the UK, they have no calorie count on their menu!!

Come on 'Cau' sort it out.

It should be a legal requirement for restaurants that is set by the government. They like to set stupid rules for pointless things, so what about setting rules for all restaurants that they must have nutritional values for all the food they sell.

If McDonalds and KFC can do it, why not the posh restaurants??? Think they're too 'posh' to give that information??

The government are always hyping on about overweight people putting the cost of NHS up, so why don't they help us all by passing a law that requires all restaurants to provide nutritional/calorific content, for current restaurants aswell as new restaurants. It should be law that they have to have that information ready for the public on opening a restaurant from the first day.

Please sign this government e-petition
http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/11690

Di3012

I find it so annoying when some restaurants don't provide that information!!

We're in the UK and I emailed a restaurant that we were going to (they pride themselves on having the best of the best Argentinian beef) and yet although they have a swanky new restaurant in the UK, they have no calorie count on their menu!!

Come on 'Cau' sort it out.

It should be a legal requirement for restaurants that is set by the government. They like to set stupid rules for pointless things, so what about setting rules for all restaurants that they must have nutritional values for all the food they sell.

If McDonalds and KFC can do it, why not the posh restaurants??? Think they're too 'posh' to give that information??

The government are always hyping on about overweight people putting the cost of NHS up, so why don't they help us all by passing a law that requires all restaurants to provide nutritional/calorific content, for current restaurants aswell as new restaurants. It should be law that they have to have that information ready for the public on opening a restaurant from the first day.

I bet it is something to do with the onus being put completely onto the restaurant then.

I am not a chef, so cannot say for definite, however, do chefs in restaurants not use their intuition for ingredients in their meals rather than weigh everything out?

If so, that would mean if they were to put the nutritional values besides the meal choices on the menus, they would have to measure and weigh everything, which they most likely do not do at this time.

Regarding MacDonalds etc, they usually just take a slab of a beefburger out of the pack and slap it onto the grill, that burger will have its values already worked out as will the baps and the other foods.

Christina1007

Sorry to dissapoint you, but I used to work for head office for a chain of bars and restaurants. We had a wide range of food and daily specials. How on earth do you expect restaurants to do a calorie count for every dish? Or would you just prefer it anyway even if it was proved to be inaccurate?

We also had this vegan lady who asked me to write to her every ingredient in a couple of main courses and starters that she wanted to eat that evening. To be honest, such customers just prove to be pain in the butt and difficult - WHICH SHE PROVED TO BE- and will leave the restaurant unhappy anyway. I understand that you are worried about calories intake when dining out, but just consider it as a treat. And you can always find out for yourself if you google it online.

GuruOnAMountain

Yeah, I guess in 'proper' non chain restaurants it would be hard for them to accurately give a calorie count since they are working with fresh produce every day and not weighing everything accurately. I think it would be good if most restaurants could give even guideline calorie amounts on menus but I think it is very unlikely to happen in independent restaurants rather than chains and for understandable reasons.

If I were going somewhere like this I'd probably just try to make the best guestimate I could of what I was eating. Either that, or go to a chain restaurant that does have nutritional information available for things. Or, of course, just work out like a beast the day before or the day after as damage limitation! lol.

Pebble321

I'd rather make my own judgement in a restaurant that changed their menu to reflect fresh seasonal produce than eat a predetermined menu that never changed, simply so they can stick to a set calorie count.
If you like mass produced, predetermined food, why not just eat at McDonalds?
Or get smart about where you eat and what you eat, it's not that hard- we don't need the government to do everything for us!

nothingisred

I find it so annoying when some restaurants don't provide that information!!

We're in the UK and I emailed a restaurant that we were going to (they pride themselves on having the best of the best Argentinian beef) and yet although they have a swanky new restaurant in the UK, they have no calorie count on their menu!!

Come on 'Cau' sort it out.

It should be a legal requirement for restaurants that is set by the government. They like to set stupid rules for pointless things, so what about setting rules for all restaurants that they must have nutritional values for all the food they sell.

If McDonalds and KFC can do it, why not the posh restaurants??? Think they're too 'posh' to give that information??

The government are always hyping on about overweight people putting the cost of NHS up, so why don't they help us all by passing a law that requires all restaurants to provide nutritional/calorific content, for current restaurants aswell as new restaurants. It should be law that they have to have that information ready for the public on opening a restaurant from the first day.

I bet it is something to do with the onus being put completely onto the restaurant then.

I am not a chef, so cannot say for definite, however, do chefs in restaurants not use their intuition for ingredients in their meals rather than weigh everything out?

If so, that would mean if they were to put the nutritional values besides the meal choices on the menus, they would have to measure and weigh everything, which they most likely do not do at this time.

Regarding MacDonalds etc, they usually just take a slab of a beefburger out of the pack and slap it onto the grill, that burger will have its values already worked out as will the baps and the other foods.

This.

McDonalds and the like are carefully calculated amounts due to budget reasons and mass production.

I'm pretty sure that if something like this was introduced then the quality of a lot of proper restaurants would decline.

Have you ever tried calculating the calories of recipes that you cook at home? If yes then you'd probably agree it can be relatively tedious and time consuming just for one meal. Imagine having a whole menu of starters, sides, mains and desserts that change on a regular basis (sometimes even weekly or daily). It would be impossible, and it would be likely that the stats would be quite different for each serving. Chefs work long and hard enough as it is without having to do something like that as well (my brother is a chef).

Ultimately, it is not their responsibility to ensure that you make wise decisions whilst dining at their restaurant. They are providing you with a dining experience, cooking is a form of art for some chefs and it would be awful to stifle that.

Learn how to make the decisions for yourself. Simple things like choosing a tomato based sauce over a cream based one.

SanyamKaushik

I second you.
What i think is that restaurants add more fat and oil in food to make it more tasty. (probably humans have a basic instinct to love fats). If nutritional information is available, it will make everyone (eaters) more responsible.

kendrafallon

There's no harm in trying to provide 'average' nutritional values. Fair enough, meals are cooked from scratch, and the nutritional value of the meal would vary, but if the restaurant has a set menu then surely it can't be that hard to calculate the calories? I mean isn't that what we do for ourselves when we cook our meals?

sheryllamb72

Sorry to dissapoint you, but I used to work for head office for a chain of bars and restaurants. We had a wide range of food and daily specials. How on earth do you expect restaurants to do a calorie count for every dish? Or would you just prefer it anyway even if it was proved to be inaccurate?

We also had this vegan lady who asked me to write to her every ingredient in a couple of main courses and starters that she wanted to eat that evening. To be honest, such customers just prove to be pain in the butt and difficult - WHICH SHE PROVED TO BE- and will leave the restaurant unhappy anyway. I understand that you are worried about calories intake when dining out, but just consider it as a treat. And you can always find out for yourself if you google it online.

I weigh all my meals at home and stick to the same amounts of ingredient when I next make it....it's not hat difficult for a restaurant to do. if they are making the same meals, week in, week out, they only have to work out the values for a plate of lasagne etc, and then providing they serve the same amount each time, the calorie count will be the same!!!

sheryllamb72

There's no harm in trying to provide 'average' nutritional values. Fair enough, meals are cooked from scratch, and the nutritional value of the meal would vary, but if the restaurant has a set menu then surely it can't be that hard to calculate the calories? I mean isn't that what we do for ourselves when we cook our meals?

Thank you. It's not that difficult is it.
Even when meals are made from scratch, like when we cook at home, we stick to a recipe so that the sauce is the right consistency etc, not to watery or think, and use the same method each time.

I'm glad someone agrees with me! =0)

sheryllamb72

I find it so annoying when some restaurants don't provide that information!!

We're in the UK and I emailed a restaurant that we were going to (they pride themselves on having the best of the best Argentinian beef) and yet although they have a swanky new restaurant in the UK, they have no calorie count on their menu!!

Come on 'Cau' sort it out.

It should be a legal requirement for restaurants that is set by the government. They like to set stupid rules for pointless things, so what about setting rules for all restaurants that they must have nutritional values for all the food they sell.

If McDonalds and KFC can do it, why not the posh restaurants??? Think they're too 'posh' to give that information??

The government are always hyping on about overweight people putting the cost of NHS up, so why don't they help us all by passing a law that requires all restaurants to provide nutritional/calorific content, for current restaurants aswell as new restaurants. It should be law that they have to have that information ready for the public on opening a restaurant from the first day.

I bet it is something to do with the onus being put completely onto the restaurant then.

I am not a chef, so cannot say for definite, however, do chefs in restaurants not use their intuition for ingredients in their meals rather than weigh everything out?

If so, that would mean if they were to put the nutritional values besides the meal choices on the menus, they would have to measure and weigh everything, which they most likely do not do at this time.

Regarding MacDonalds etc, they usually just take a slab of a beefburger out of the pack and slap it onto the grill, that burger will have its values already worked out as will the baps and the other foods.

This.

McDonalds and the like are carefully calculated amounts due to budget reasons and mass production.

I'm pretty sure that if something like this was introduced then the quality of a lot of proper restaurants would decline.

Have you ever tried calculating the calories of recipes that you cook at home? If yes then you'd probably agree it can be relatively tedious and time consuming just for one meal. Imagine having a whole menu of starters, sides, mains and desserts that change on a regular basis (sometimes even weekly or daily). It would be impossible, and it would be likely that the stats would be quite different for each serving. Chefs work long and hard enough as it is without having to do something like that as well (my brother is a chef).

Ultimately, it is not their responsibility to ensure that you make wise decisions whilst dining at their restaurant. They are providing you with a dining experience, cooking is a form of art for some chefs and it would be awful to stifle that.

Learn how to make the decisions for yourself. Simple things like choosing a tomato based sauce over a cream based one.

It only takes one dish to count the calorie content, and then serve the same size dish each time!!

nothingisred

It only takes one dish to count the calorie content, and then serve the same size dish each time!!

But that's my point, it's not the same each time. Chefs are constantly tasting their food and adding and tweaking ingredients so each serving will be different. And some restaurants literally change their menu every day, or substitute ingredients in dishes depending on the fresh produce they have for that day.

Honestly, go work as a chef in a decent restaurant for a while and then you'll see why it's a near impossible task.

Why is it so difficult to make smart decisions for yourself?

paulwgun

if your cooking for 4/6 at home yes a piece of cake to work out, if your menu is mundane and you serve up the same things all the time ......yes it would be easy
If your cooking for up to 60/80 a la carte each dish is cooked to order a sauce may reduce to much so you add some wine or stock to thin it down hence your calorie count goes up to get a nice finish to a sauce you add butter it could be from 1 teaspoon to 3 teaspoons, each of my dishes are individual and therefore fluctuate in calorie count. I do offer healthy eating and vegetarian options and change my menu regularly which is hard enough as it is without having legislation to make me provide a calorie count also
If you want to watch your calories eat weight watcher a la ding meals simple:bigsmile:

kendrafallon

It only takes one dish to count the calorie content, and then serve the same size dish each time!!

But that's my point, it's not the same each time. Chefs are constantly tasting their food and adding and tweaking ingredients so each serving will be different. And some restaurants literally change their menu every day, or substitute ingredients in dishes depending on the fresh produce they have for that day.

Honestly, go work as a chef in a decent restaurant for a while and then you'll see why it's a near impossible task.

Why is it so difficult to make smart decisions for yourself?

Again, how hard is it to calculate average values on a set menu? And yes we as diners do need to be smart about our choices, but there has to be a compromise.

A lot of restaurants have set menus, and a specials board that changes daily or even weekly and fair enough there are going to be variations in how a meal is cooked, hell we all do it when we're cooking in the kitchen. BUT in general it what's being asked is not impossible.

paulwgun

It only takes one dish to count the calorie content, and then serve the same size dish each time!!

But that's my point, it's not the same each time. Chefs are constantly tasting their food and adding and tweaking ingredients so each serving will be different. And some restaurants literally change their menu every day, or substitute ingredients in dishes depending on the fresh produce they have for that day.

Honestly, go work as a chef in a decent restaurant for a while and then you'll see why it's a near impossible task.

Why is it so difficult to make smart decisions for yourself?

THANK YOU :bigsmile:

goron59

I think McD and their ilk can do it because all their food is heavily processed crap that's easy to quantify.....

sheryllamb72

Oooooh calm down people, it was just a thought that would make it a bit easier for the weight conscious diner, that stresses enough at the thought of going out to eat wih family, without having to try and google food calorific content that either isn't supplied on the menu or on MFP website!!

runnercheryl

I have signed, and I completely agree. I've e-mail restaurants before asking for nutritional information for their meals. I've even e-mailed restaurants that say on their website "We're dedicated to health and by the start of 2011 will have calorie counts on all meals on our menu", and have told me when I've e-mailed in MID-2011, "No, we've not got around to that yet".

It is infuriating. I want to be able to make the best choices for me wherever I go - sure, I can guess, but it would be nice to have something more accurate. I actually choose Wetherspoons over some other restaurants when I have the option because they put calorie counts on at least a few meals on their menu.

NemesisJRM

I find it so annoying when some restaurants don't provide that information!!

We're in the UK and I emailed a restaurant that we were going to (they pride themselves on having the best of the best Argentinian beef) and yet although they have a swanky new restaurant in the UK, they have no calorie count on their menu!!

Come on 'Cau' sort it out.

It should be a legal requirement for restaurants that is set by the government. They like to set stupid rules for pointless things, so what about setting rules for all restaurants that they must have nutritional values for all the food they sell.

If McDonalds and KFC can do it, why not the posh restaurants??? Think they're too 'posh' to give that information??

The government are always hyping on about overweight people putting the cost of NHS up, so why don't they help us all by passing a law that requires all restaurants to provide nutritional/calorific content, for current restaurants aswell as new restaurants. It should be law that they have to have that information ready for the public on opening a restaurant from the first day.

I bet it is something to do with the onus being put completely onto the restaurant then.

I am not a chef, so cannot say for definite, however, do chefs in restaurants not use their intuition for ingredients in their meals rather than weigh everything out?

If so, that would mean if they were to put the nutritional values besides the meal choices on the menus, they would have to measure and weigh everything, which they most likely do not do at this time.

Regarding MacDonalds etc, they usually just take a slab of a beefburger out of the pack and slap it onto the grill, that burger will have its values already worked out as will the baps and the other foods.

This.

McDonalds and the like are carefully calculated amounts due to budget reasons and mass production.

I'm pretty sure that if something like this was introduced then the quality of a lot of proper restaurants would decline.

Have you ever tried calculating the calories of recipes that you cook at home? If yes then you'd probably agree it can be relatively tedious and time consuming just for one meal. Imagine having a whole menu of starters, sides, mains and desserts that change on a regular basis (sometimes even weekly or daily). It would be impossible, and it would be likely that the stats would be quite different for each serving. Chefs work long and hard enough as it is without having to do something like that as well (my brother is a chef).

Ultimately, it is not their responsibility to ensure that you make wise decisions whilst dining at their restaurant. They are providing you with a dining experience, cooking is a form of art for some chefs and it would be awful to stifle that.

Learn how to make the decisions for yourself. Simple things like choosing a tomato based sauce over a cream based one.

It only takes one dish to count the calorie content, and then serve the same size dish each time!!

I put this to you, what if someone needs something taken out the meal, or added into it, should they have to adjust it for every time they cook it? Its not going to happen....... Having had a family run hotel and restaurant it would be nearly impossible! I mean how many times have you ordered something and not liked the peppers in it and had them removed, or no croutons in the soup etc etc etc..... If it bothers you that much and you don’t need it exact, work it out yourself. Simple.........

Tbh as stated else were just enjoy a meal out and don’t worry about the calories, one meal wont break the bank and tbh 90% of the time we deserve to treat ourselves without having to check every little thing that goes into our mouths

treetop57

In the US, the law is that chains with 20 or more outlets have to provide nutrition information.

Calorie Data to Be Posted at Most Chains
By STEPHANIE ROSENBLOOM
Published: March 23, 2010

Buried deep in the health care legislation that President Obama signed on Tuesday is a new requirement that will affect any American who walks into a McDonald’s, Starbucks or Burger King. Every big restaurant chain in the nation will now be required to put calorie information on their menus and drive-through signs. . . .

The legislation also requires labels on food items in vending machines, meaning that anybody tempted by a king-size Snickers bar will know up front that it packs 440 calories.

The measure is intended to create a national policy modeled on a requirement that has already taken effect in New York City and was to go into effect in 2011 in places like California and Oregon. The new federal law requires restaurant chains with 20 or more outlets to disclose calorie counts on their food items and supply information on how many calories a healthy person should eat in a day. . . .

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/24/business/24menu.html

Sounds like a reasonable cut-off to me.

It didn't seem reasonable to the manager of a Fosters Freeze I visited over Christmas. Their sign was confusing, and my husband thought that the calorie information was the price. The manager (who was taking our order) started ranting about the unfunded mandate that required her to replace all her signs with these confusing new ones.

I kept my mouth shut but was thinking that I found the info very useful. I used it to help me decide what to order!

runnercheryl

In the US, the law is that chains with 20 or more outlets have to provide nutrition information.

Calorie Data to Be Posted at Most Chains
By STEPHANIE ROSENBLOOM
Published: March 23, 2010

Buried deep in the health care legislation that President Obama signed on Tuesday is a new requirement that will affect any American who walks into a McDonald’s, Starbucks or Burger King. Every big restaurant chain in the nation will now be required to put calorie information on their menus and drive-through signs. . . .

The legislation also requires labels on food items in vending machines, meaning that anybody tempted by a king-size Snickers bar will know up front that it packs 440 calories.

The measure is intended to create a national policy modeled on a requirement that has already taken effect in New York City and was to go into effect in 2011 in places like California and Oregon. The new federal law requires restaurant chains with 20 or more outlets to disclose calorie counts on their food items and supply information on how many calories a healthy person should eat in a day. . . .

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/24/business/24menu.html

Sounds like a reasonable cut-off to me.

It didn't seem reasonable to the manager of a Fosters Freeze I visited over Christmas. Their sign was confusing, and my husband thought that the calorie information was the price. The manager (who was taking our order) started ranting about the unfunded mandate that required her to replace all her signs with these confusing new ones.

I kept my mouth shut but was thinking that I found the info very useful. I used it to help me decide what to order!

That sounds good, to me. If it were a requirement for all chain restaurants and pubs, I'd just pick those over independent restaurants (almost) every time.