Nutritional information should be legislation for all UK res

sexforjaffacakes

big chains should have too, small places no. Personally I think clinically overweight/obese people should receive a discount to government owned swimming pools and gyms etc... I think that would help more. Oh, and sack the fat tax, if they really wanna help people get healthy they should stop supermarkets over charging for healthy food and stuff!

treetop57

Apparently, New York City's law (implemented in 2008) applies to chains with 15 or more outlets.

http://articles.cnn.com/2008-01-22/health/calories.menus_1_calorie-counts-calorie-information-menus?_s=PM:HEALTH

Oregon's is also 15 or more.

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/06/restaurants_must_post_calories.html

California's (2010) is 20 or more.

http://www.consumercal.org/article.php?id=991

The interesting thing in that last article is that as the California law went into effect, chains started rejiggering their menus to provide lower calorie options.

I know the original post is about the UK, but I hope y'all don't mind me posting info on how these things are being handled in the US.

mfp_1

*************************************************
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/news/fast-food-chains-drop-watchdogs-caloriecount-display-scheme-2035412.html
Fast food chains drop watchdog's calorie-count display scheme

Fast food chains and restaurants have quietly sunk a plan by Britain's food watchdog to display calorie counts in eating outlets across the country, The Independent can disclose.

With increasing numbers of Britons eating meals outside of the home – most often in cafés, sandwich stores and fast food outlets – the Food Standards Agency had set up a trial with many of the largest fast food and restaurant companies, in which they printed calorie counts next to products on the shelves, on menus or next to tills.

But chains such as KFC and Burger King have failed to commit to extending the trials. Others, such as Pizza Hut, Mitchells and Butlers, which runs the Harvester chain, and the caterer Compass have abandoned theirs. Only one major company of 18 firms that tested the idea, Pret A Manger, now displays calories next to all its products.

Despite growing waistlines and the annual cost of billions of pounds to the NHS in treating obesity and other diet-related illness, diners usually have to search out calorie information.

Most chains only list nutritional information such as calories and fat and sugar content on their websites rather than prominently in their stores. Some, such as Starbucks and Costa Coffee, do offer an in-store leaflet – if customers request the information.

But many are unaware of how quickly calories can add up, with one Pizza Hut pizza weighing in at 2,656 calories – the daily allowance of 2,500 for a man – a large Burger King milkshake having 612 calories and a Starbucks carrot cake 560 calories, a quarter of a woman's recommended daily intake of 2,000.

The news means that calorie counts are only being listed next to food in the way the FSA intended in about 200 outlets, or 3 per cent of the 6,000 major fast food and sandwich shops run by leading names such as McDonald's, KFC and Starbucks. Food campaigners expressed disappointment that the project looked doomed to fail. "It's deeply disappointing," said Jackie Schneider, a spokeswoman for Sustain, a food and farming group which runs the Children's Food Campaign.

"Providing a calorie count is a simple way to pass on information to people to make decisions. With [the Health Secretary] Andrew Lansley's comments about people taking personal responsibility, it's imperative that companies give calorie information."

Last summer the Food Standards Agency announced plans to trial the display of calories in dozens of outlets across 18 fast food chains, restaurant companies, cafés and workplace caterers. The companies taking part included Pizza Hut, KFC, Burger King, Subway, Wimpy, Compass, Mitchells and Butlers and Merlin Entertainments.

The FSA says now that only five firms have agreed to give a "forward, long-term commitment" to display calories in outlets: Pret A Manger, Wimpy, Co-operative cafés, the Camden Food Company and the Real Greek, which has six restaurants in London.

Pizza Hut abandoned a trial in Birmingham and Coventry, saying that customers had found the calorie labelling "confusing". KFC is still trialling the scheme at two of its 750 outlets in the UK and Ireland. Burger King, which ran a trial at four stores, said it wanted to help customers make healthy choices but was unsure whether to roll out calorie counts. Mitchells and Butler, which runs 2,000 pubs, ended its trial at 25 branches last summer. It said, "We continue to make our own progress in this area across all of our brands."

Subway, the sandwich chain, has scrapped the idea of displaying calorie counts at tills where people order but they are available on counters where its rolls are made up in all branches. Compass, the contract caterer which has ended its trial, said it displayed calories for many meals.

Sue Davies, chief policy adviser at consumer group Which?, said: "This is something that research has showed people want. For this to work properly, a lot of companies need to take part." Ms Davies added that while some diners would not wish to see calories on the menu of restaurants where they might be celebrating a birthday, the situation was different at burger and sandwich chains where they ate regularly.

What they display:

Fast food outlets

Burger King
Outlets (UK): 500
Number of outlets displaying calories*: 4
Examples:
High: Double Whopper with Cheese: 960 calories
Low: Cheeseburger: 320 calories

KFC
Outlets: 750**
Number displaying calories: 2
Examples:
High: Zinger Tower burger: 655
Low: Fillet burger: 442

McDonald’s
Outlets: 1,200
Number displaying calories: 0
Examples:
High: Quarter pounder with cheese: 490
Low: McChicken sandwich: 385

Pizza Hut
Outlets: 700
Number displaying calories: 0
Examples:
High: Cheesy bites pizza: 2,656
Low: Individual Italian pizza 752

Sandwich shops/cafes

Costa Coffee
Outlets: 1,000
Number displaying calories: O***
Examples:
High: Blueberry muffin: 475
Low: Butter Croissant: 276

Pret A Manger
Outlets: 200
Number displaying calories: 200
Examples:
High: Mozarella pesto bloomer: 564
Low: Lemon chicken sandwich 374

Starbucks
Outlets: 770**
Number displaying calories: 0***
Examples:
Carrot cake: 560
Butter croissant: 279

Subway
Outlets: 1,400**
Number displaying calories: 1,400****
Examples:
High: Meatball marinara six inch sub: 506
Low-fat ham six inch sum: 256




* Calories displayed in-store on menus or menu boards

**UK and Ireland

***Except legal requirement on pre-packed sandwiches

****Subway has stopped displaying calories in a bolder form by tills requested by FSA, but displays them on the counters where food is prepared
*************************************************

treetop57

Very interesting, mfp_1. Thanks for posting!

kyle4jem

I think it's reasonable to expect to find nutritional info available on their websites (and/or in-house) in any chain that has more than 15 outlets, because they will be running usually with a buyer for the whole group so their menu will probably only change 2-3 times a year and then it's not too difficult to provide that information or at least a reasonable guestimate.

Independent restaurants shouldn't have to do this - as many before me have said, cooking is not always an exact science and often ingredients are sourced that day.

Eating out should be a pleasure, not a chore. If I go out, I eat what I want from the menu, sometimes I make a smart choice, but I won't compromise on taste. I might as well not bother otherwise. I do sometime have to live in hotels while working away from home and in some cases I can get their nutritional info online, otherwise I just use MFP and see what's in the database. I can usually find something along similar lines there if not the exact same meal. Moreover, I cook fresh lots, so I've become more and more ingredient aware and can usually guess what the major calorific components to any meal are and have a pretty good handle on what's 100g of this and that, so can work it out for myself if need be.

I think there are times when we can get a bit too anal about counting calories. I know some folks are on restricted calories, but for the most of us, we probably all exercise regularly, have lost quite a bit of weight or are well on the way there and can enjoy the experience of eating out once in a while :happy:

sexforjaffacakes

mcdonalds and pizza hut do give cals in store...

runnercheryl

Agreed, mfp_1 - interesting stuff. But I notice it says Pizza Hut shelved the idea. Pizza Hut, McDonalds and Wetherspoons are the only places I know that DO provide nutritional information. Pizza Hut's is online, and it makes me favour them to other pizza restaurants.

I'll be honest, I'm not as keen on their food, but the nutritional info they provide leads me to look on them far more positively and to go there on occasion.

http://www.pizzahut.co.uk/restaurants/menus--deals/dietary-information.aspx

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.

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!!

Chefs use their initiative when adding ingredients, they are not like the average person on the street that needs to measure out everything to make a dish. However, because of this, the chefs not weighing every ingredient, it changes the amount of calories in the dishes and this can be by varying amounts.

The actual dish may be the same, but the calories it contains will vary from serving to serving.

sheryllamb72

*************************************************
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/news/fast-food-chains-drop-watchdogs-caloriecount-display-scheme-2035412.html
Fast food chains drop watchdog's calorie-count display scheme

Fast food chains and restaurants have quietly sunk a plan by Britain's food watchdog to display calorie counts in eating outlets across the country, The Independent can disclose.

With increasing numbers of Britons eating meals outside of the home – most often in cafés, sandwich stores and fast food outlets – the Food Standards Agency had set up a trial with many of the largest fast food and restaurant companies, in which they printed calorie counts next to products on the shelves, on menus or next to tills.

But chains such as KFC and Burger King have failed to commit to extending the trials. Others, such as Pizza Hut, Mitchells and Butlers, which runs the Harvester chain, and the caterer Compass have abandoned theirs. Only one major company of 18 firms that tested the idea, Pret A Manger, now displays calories next to all its products.

Despite growing waistlines and the annual cost of billions of pounds to the NHS in treating obesity and other diet-related illness, diners usually have to search out calorie information.

Most chains only list nutritional information such as calories and fat and sugar content on their websites rather than prominently in their stores. Some, such as Starbucks and Costa Coffee, do offer an in-store leaflet – if customers request the information.

But many are unaware of how quickly calories can add up, with one Pizza Hut pizza weighing in at 2,656 calories – the daily allowance of 2,500 for a man – a large Burger King milkshake having 612 calories and a Starbucks carrot cake 560 calories, a quarter of a woman's recommended daily intake of 2,000.

The news means that calorie counts are only being listed next to food in the way the FSA intended in about 200 outlets, or 3 per cent of the 6,000 major fast food and sandwich shops run by leading names such as McDonald's, KFC and Starbucks. Food campaigners expressed disappointment that the project looked doomed to fail. "It's deeply disappointing," said Jackie Schneider, a spokeswoman for Sustain, a food and farming group which runs the Children's Food Campaign.

"Providing a calorie count is a simple way to pass on information to people to make decisions. With [the Health Secretary] Andrew Lansley's comments about people taking personal responsibility, it's imperative that companies give calorie information."

Last summer the Food Standards Agency announced plans to trial the display of calories in dozens of outlets across 18 fast food chains, restaurant companies, cafés and workplace caterers. The companies taking part included Pizza Hut, KFC, Burger King, Subway, Wimpy, Compass, Mitchells and Butlers and Merlin Entertainments.

The FSA says now that only five firms have agreed to give a "forward, long-term commitment" to display calories in outlets: Pret A Manger, Wimpy, Co-operative cafés, the Camden Food Company and the Real Greek, which has six restaurants in London.

Pizza Hut abandoned a trial in Birmingham and Coventry, saying that customers had found the calorie labelling "confusing". KFC is still trialling the scheme at two of its 750 outlets in the UK and Ireland. Burger King, which ran a trial at four stores, said it wanted to help customers make healthy choices but was unsure whether to roll out calorie counts. Mitchells and Butler, which runs 2,000 pubs, ended its trial at 25 branches last summer. It said, "We continue to make our own progress in this area across all of our brands."

Subway, the sandwich chain, has scrapped the idea of displaying calorie counts at tills where people order but they are available on counters where its rolls are made up in all branches. Compass, the contract caterer which has ended its trial, said it displayed calories for many meals.

Sue Davies, chief policy adviser at consumer group Which?, said: "This is something that research has showed people want. For this to work properly, a lot of companies need to take part." Ms Davies added that while some diners would not wish to see calories on the menu of restaurants where they might be celebrating a birthday, the situation was different at burger and sandwich chains where they ate regularly.

What they display:

Fast food outlets

Burger King
Outlets (UK): 500
Number of outlets displaying calories*: 4
Examples:
High: Double Whopper with Cheese: 960 calories
Low: Cheeseburger: 320 calories

KFC
Outlets: 750**
Number displaying calories: 2
Examples:
High: Zinger Tower burger: 655
Low: Fillet burger: 442

McDonald’s
Outlets: 1,200
Number displaying calories: 0
Examples:
High: Quarter pounder with cheese: 490
Low: McChicken sandwich: 385

Pizza Hut
Outlets: 700
Number displaying calories: 0
Examples:
High: Cheesy bites pizza: 2,656
Low: Individual Italian pizza 752

Sandwich shops/cafes

Costa Coffee
Outlets: 1,000
Number displaying calories: O***
Examples:
High: Blueberry muffin: 475
Low: Butter Croissant: 276

Pret A Manger
Outlets: 200
Number displaying calories: 200
Examples:
High: Mozarella pesto bloomer: 564
Low: Lemon chicken sandwich 374

Starbucks
Outlets: 770**
Number displaying calories: 0***
Examples:
Carrot cake: 560
Butter croissant: 279

Subway
Outlets: 1,400**
Number displaying calories: 1,400****
Examples:
High: Meatball marinara six inch sub: 506
Low-fat ham six inch sum: 256




* Calories displayed in-store on menus or menu boards

**UK and Ireland

***Except legal requirement on pre-packed sandwiches

****Subway has stopped displaying calories in a bolder form by tills requested by FSA, but displays them on the counters where food is prepared
*************************************************

WOW, that was very interesting information. I'm glad that it's a country wide "want" and not just a few individuals that want this information. Just a shame that food outlets won't continue to display this information. I can understand why, because if people see how high their food is in calories they won't buy anymore of that item, but then the outlet needs to give a healthy alternative.
At the end of the day, its a personal choice. If you see the amount of calories in an item, and you still want to eat it, then on your head be it...or your waist line, as the case may be!!!
But some of us are very aware of what we are eating and stick to a very strict calorie intake. I've got a mini pair of scales which I carry in my handbag and if I want to weigh something to stay within my calorie goal for the day, I weigh it and give half to my husband, so I can stick to my alloted calories.

Thank you very very much for all of that information MFP_1

sebw91

http://sebwhitton.wix.com/sebdoes#!UK-IIFYM-Dining-Out-Survival-Guide/cgta/35B0C2E7-8D06-4927-838F-0FEFF88FFE31

Got as many as I could for UK restaurants... Even got ask by 'asking' haha and full macros for yo sushi by special request aha

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.