New rules requiring calorie information to be displayed on menus
and food labels come into force today.
The changes - which were approved by parliament in 2021 – mean it
is now a legal requirement for large businesses with more than
250 employees, including cafes, restaurants, and takeaways to
display calorie information of non-prepacked food and soft
drinks.
Calorie information will need to be displayed on menus, online
menus, third party apps, food delivery platforms and food labels
at the point a customer is making their food and drink choices.
As well as listing the calories for each food item, menus and
labels will also need to include daily recommended calorie needs.
The legislation, which forms part of the government’s strategy to
tackle obesity, aims to ensure people can make more informed,
healthier choices when it comes to eating food out or ordering
takeaways. Displaying calorie information may also encourage
businesses to provide lower calorie options for their customers.
It is estimated that overweight and obesity related conditions
across the UK cost the NHS £6.1 billion each year. Almost
two-thirds (63%) of adults in England are overweight or living
with obesity – and 40% of children leave primary school
overweight or obese. Obesity is also the second biggest cause of
cancer across the UK.
The Covid pandemic has highlighted the impact that obesity can
have on people’s health, and as part of its drive to level up the
health of the nation, the government is also asking smaller
businesses to adopt calorie labelling.
Public Health Minister said:
It is crucial that we all have access to the information we need
to maintain a healthier weight, and this starts with knowing how
calorific our food is. We are used to knowing this when we are
shopping in the supermarket, but this isn’t the case when we eat
out or get a take-away.
As part of our efforts to tackle disparities and level up the
nation’s health, these measures are an important building block
to making it as easy as possible for people to make healthier
food choices.
The most recent official data shows that in 2019/20, there were
over one million hospital admissions where obesity was the
primary or secondary cause, an increase of 17% on 2018/19 when
there were 876,000 obesity-related admissions.
Bridget Turner, Director of Policy, Campaigns and Improvement at
Diabetes UK, said:
Obesity is the single greatest risk factor for type 2 diabetes
and there are an estimated 13.6 million people at increased risk
of developing the condition in the UK.
Tackling this health crisis is vital, so the government’s
commitment to make large takeaway, cafe and restaurant chains
calorie label the food they sell is a welcome move towards
reducing the rising levels of obesity in the UK.
Diabetes UK campaigned strongly for these measures through our
Food Upfront campaign. We hope it will bring these large, out of
home businesses more in line with the food retail sector when it
comes to giving people clear calorie information for the food
they buy, hopefully leading to improved menus and healthier
options.
There are some exemptions to the legislation including food that
is only on a menu for 30 days of the year or less and all alcohol
drinks above 1.2% ABV.
The legislation will be enforced by local authorities with the
Department of Health and Social Care supporting them with the
additional costs of enforcing the policy. Local Authorities are
encouraged first to have conversations with those businesses who
are not complying with the law. Local authorities can issue
improvement notices. Any person who fails to comply with a notice
could be guilty of an offence and could be fined £2,500.
Buying food on the go or getting takeaways are increasingly
important to people. On average the portions of food or drink
that people eat out or eat as takeaway meals contain twice as
many calories as their equivalent bought in a shop, where
labelling is much more common. Research suggests that food people
eat outside the home makes up 20-25% of adult calorie intake
In a survey by the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities
on calorie reduction, 79% of respondents said they think that
menus should include the number of calories in food and drinks.
The types of businesses covered by the requirement include:
- restaurants, fast food outlets, cafes, pubs and supermarkets
- home delivery services and third-party apps selling food that
is in scope of the legislation
- cafes and takeaways within larger shops and venues, such as
supermarkets, department stores, and entertainment venues such as
cinemas
- specialist food stores, delicatessens, sweet shops and
bakeries
- contract catering – for example, for events and canteens, and
- domestic transport businesses including planes, trains,
ferries and other forms of water transport within the UK.
As part of the government’s obesity strategy we have also
introduced regulations to restrict the promotion of less healthy
foods by location and volume price in store and online, which
come into force in October 2022, and through the Health and Care
Bill, restrictions on the advertising of less healthy foods on TV
before 9pm and via online paid for advertising.
