Calories on menus in restaurants

Patsy167

Restaurants, cafes and takeaways in England with more than 250 staff must print how many calories are in meals on their menus, websites, and on delivery platforms.

The new rule is part of government plans to tackle obesity by helping people to make healthier choices.

Would you welcome a similar rule in Ireland?

sam t smith

Wouldn’t bother me either way. I see there is criticism of the move from body positivity and eating disorder charities.

Patsy167

I like the idea. I've seen it in some places like Camile Thai and its a real eye opener. You might be fairly indifferent between two options but knowing the calorie difference can be a useful piece of information.

sam t smith

Beshoff Bros (fish and chip chain in Dublin) also show the calories on their main menu board. In Clontarf anyway.

Faith

I find I’m conflicted by it. I’d find it very useful to know personally, as I would like to watch my calories when eating out and it can be very illuminating. Camile Thai is a good example - I would have assumed a Pad Thai is reasonably low calorie as it has no sauce, but it turns out it has over 1000 calories there! That’s very useful to know because it enables me to order something else I might have avoided because I’d thought it had more calories.

That being said, I definitely have disordered food cognitions so I can 100% understand how it could be a very unhelpful thing for people with or recovering from eating disorders. I also don’t think it would bother anyone who isn’t already a bit obsessed with their weight so I’d struggle to see it as having a significant impact on public health.

sam t smith

It was considered here 5 or 6 years ago but went nowhere.

Atlantic Dawn

They should weigh people when they enter and again when they leave, give them a printout of how much extra is aboard, let them decide what workout is needed to burn that off.

Spanish Eyes

I never look at the calories if given. Spoils my choice so I don't do it when out for a rare enough meal as a treat. And I don't care either even if I notice the calorie count, if I want that particular dish, I'll have it. Too many aspects of our lives are controlled.

Strumms

I eat out once a week and never have I been tempted to make a choice based on a calorie intake per dish..

eating out is meant to be enjoyed. I’m happy with my exercise plan so I’m happy to indulge in a nice meal without counting calories

Jim_Hodge

Personally I find the notion absurd. I want to enjoy a meal out and not be guilt tripping over calories.

sam t smith

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118935350#Comment_118935350

Would need to be connected to the toilet facilities also.

Lemsiper

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118935295#Comment_118935295

Pad Thai does have a sauce to be fair.

Dempo1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118935350#Comment_118935350

🤣🤣 too funny

SuperBowserWorld

I think this idea would be torture for anyone with an eating disorder and possibly lead to more people being blighted with one.

magicbastarder

could be merit in having the info available on request.

on the face of it, i don't really have an objection to being given information about the food being served, even if i might not care.

SuperBowserWorld

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118936238#Comment_118936238

That's a much better idea.

Dial Hard

People tend to have very strong feelings about this. Personally, listed calories definitely have an impact in how and what I order when eating out. My maintenance calories are 1,200 a day and seeing a single dish that will put you over that can be very sobering indeed! I'd tend to be very savvy anyway about the calorie content of most foods but seeing it there in black and white in front of you tends to put manners on you moreso than knowing academically, if that makes sense.

I can see the arguments both for and against, tbh.

The Continental Op

Simply have two menus a standard menu without the calories and another one with the calories on it. Diners get the standard menu unless they request the one indicating the calorific value of what they are eating.

sam t smith

I recently saw a screenshot of a menu with each dishes carbon footprint listed. Might have been on this site.

what will they think of next?

AndrewJRenko

In theory it seems like a good idea, at least to have it available on request. Is it reasonable to expect every restaurant to come up with the calorie count for every dish? Do you need specialist input from a nutrionist for this? What about specials based on freshly available products?

Dial Hard

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118936282#Comment_118936282

All of the above are reasons why many restaurants are against it. It's (relatively) easy to do for your big chain places serving a highly standardised menu, but your local neighbourhood seafood place where they change the menu on a weekly or even daily basis, not so much. Hence the UK saying only places of a certain size have to do it, but it still tends to cause a stir.

Dempo1

I can see some merit for lunch menus perhaps but in all honesty, if a person is going out to, or being brought out to Dinner, are they really concerned about calories. People will invariably choose what they percieve as a healthy option, Salads, Fish, vegetarian etc.

Notwithstanding the Dietry expertise and additional expense, how does an establishment go about assertaining Calories in freshly produced food, obviously it may not be intended to be precise but it would be a cumbersome undertaking particularly in establishments that change menus nightly or regularly. How does a chef assertain how many calories in a Sauce for example.

I recall in my time in the industry it was being discussed and there was universal disquiet about the idea. It was even a struggle to get establishments list Gluten Free dishes and what was known them as "Healthy Option"

I don't disagree with the idea but wonder what would the point be and I suspect there would not be universal approval of this idea in the industry.

The Continental Op

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118936312#Comment_118936312

If we are doing this the UK way then most of your reasoning has been already thought out. The restaurant needs to employ 250 people or more before they are required to provide calorie counts and the items have to be on the menu for more than 30 days.

magicbastarder

how big would a restaurant have to be by the time it has 250 people employed anyway?

sam t smith

It is aimed at restaurant chains.

Faith

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118936282#Comment_118936282

How does a chef assertain how many calories in a Sauce for example.

it’s not hard to do, there’s tons of calorie tracking apps that can work out the calories in a meal. There are even barcode scanners built in so you get the exact calories for the product.

Let’s say a chef is trying to work out the calories for a sauce. They add all the ingredients to make a batch of the sauce into a calories calculator app and then specify the portions. The app will calculate the calories per serving. Serving sizes tend to be standard, so you just weigh the ingredients and work them out, add them together and there are your rough average calories for the dish.

Anyone who uses a calorie tracking app for weight purposes gets used to doing it very quickly. Take porridge for example - weigh your oats, put it in the app. Weigh the milk, put it in the app. Weigh the optional extras, put them in the app. Boom, you have the calories for the meal worked out.

the beer revolu

Whenever this comes up, you always get the argument that, "eating out is a treat" and no one wants to be counting calories.

But the truth is that many people just want their dinner and are away from home or simply don't cook. I often think that these people are forgotten in many menus.

People are different and eat out for all sorts of different reasons. Not everyone is "treating" themselves.

neris

More red tape & beauracracy for the restaurants and responsibility been forced back onto businesses rather then individuals using cop on and taking some personal responsibility

Alun

I've never looked at calorie information on a menu or any other kind of food label in my life and don't intend to start, so I don't have any input in that regard. However it's going to be a pain in the proverbials for restaurants unless they only insist on it for chains that can dedicate staff to it as was suggested earlier.

El_Duderino 09

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118937759#Comment_118937759

Yeah my job involves travel. I've come up with some creative ways to eat healthy while in hotels. Restaurants and takeaways are fine for a treat once a month or whatever, but if you have to eat out every meal for a week, it's very difficult to get genuinely healthy food that isn't miles out of balance for calories.

Obesity is a pretty big problem and it's getting worse. People tend to way underestimate the calories in food, so I think giving people the choice to know the calories in food is a sensible idea. We do it for most food in supermarkets, so why not do it for food in restaurants? Is there a big objection to calories on supermarket foods on the grounds that it exacerbates eating disorders?

Tree

Honestly, I'd rather be able to get a half portion of things. "this is three bazillion calories, so have a miserable option" instead of "this comes in three or one bazillion calorie portions"