Nutritional information should be legislation for all UK res

GillianMcK

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)

What about restaurants that change their menu's every other week or every month??
Chef's do not weigh out every single ingredient (unless it's pre-made food that's probably bought in), the restaurant I work is a steak house, the steaks vary in size (we have our own ionised fridge, meat is hung and our own butcher), it's an average size, but with red meat the difference between a 32oz porterhouse with a heavy bone can have a very different calorie count to a 28oz with a light/small bone!!! Daupinoise are made up and then put in the bowls they will be cooked in, some will fit better and get a bigger portion, some will have smaller positions, same for mushrooms, veg, boiled potatoes, baked potatoes etc, desserts are changed every week and will be based on what is in season, but a pun net of strawberries can be different weights as well.
Whilst restaurants that have pre-made food and never change their menu's could do this, a restaurant that makes everything in house and from scratch would end up priced out the market as to do this they would need extra chefs, bigger kitchens, more equipment.
I don't need to know the calories to know that McDonalds/Pizza Hut/KFC etc will be high in calories, and a huge porterhouse will be the same, if I order a salad I'll ask them to hold the dressing, order the baked potatoes and won't order the mushrooms cooked in butter.

maria0104

Our food industry in the UK is pressed at the moment and only just picking up after a recession. We have chain restaurants that do have nutritional information because they know the exact amounts that are supposed to go into a dish and what is meant to be served as the end product to a consumer.

I know where I live in our city a recent influx of chain food providers such as Zizzi's, Piccolinos, Strada and Pizza Express etc have made things extremely difficult for the smaller, independent restaurants with the pricing and better staffing (able to take on more staff with better wages) than the smaller restaurants. Even if the food is better in many of the little places they just cannot compete to the masses. Making them spend time & money to get the right calories for the dishes would be an unnecessary hardship to these places in my opinion & off putting for a lot of their customers who may be able to make the judgement for themselves- others may just not want to know for a one night splurge. They are already struggling and I don't think it's fair that if people cannot make their own conscientious decision then that's their own issue. Educating oneself is a huge step toward changing your health and relying on others probably isn't the best idea anyway.