Nutritional information should be legislation for all UK res
sheryllamb72
Posts: 163 Member
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
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
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Replies
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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.0 -
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.0 -
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.0 -
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!0 -
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.0 -
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.0 -
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?0
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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!!!0 -
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)0 -
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!!0 -
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?0 -
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:0 -
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.0 -
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:0 -
I think McD and their ilk can do it because all their food is heavily processed crap that's easy to quantify.....0
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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!!0
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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.0 -
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 mouths0 -
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!0 -
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.
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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!0
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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.0 -
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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
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Very interesting, mfp_1. Thanks for posting!0
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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:0 -
mcdonalds and pizza hut do give cals in store...0
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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.aspx0 -
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.0 -
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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
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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_10 -
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 aha0
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