The UK has recently passed legislation to force all large business to display calorie information on menus and food labels from April 2022. These rules are intended to help the public to make healthier choices when eating out. But... do they work?
Is it a good idea?
- 35 million people in the UK are estimated to be overweight or obese (64%).
- Could help individuals trying to eat a calorie controlled diet be more informed
Is it a bad idea?
- Concerns about those with eating disorders.
- It’s only calories – not fibre, protein, micronutrients etc and simple calorie comparison means nothing – a chocolate bar has fewer calories than a meal with steak, greens and lentils.
- Could give a false sense of ‘health’ to some – e.g. I’ve only eaten 500kcals at this meal…
- It doesn’t teach people anything.
- There’s more to obesity than calories in, calories out in restaurants.
Will it actually help?
The research suggests not. Petimar et al (2019) study. After labeling implementation, a level decrease was observed of 60 calories/transaction followed by an increasing trend of 0.71 calories/transaction/week. Also see Cochrane reviews.
Why?
- Are the diners attending to the information?
- Do they understand what calories are?
- Do the habituate to the information and no longer attend to it?
- Values driving those actions?
- Understanding of calories and weight.
- Function of eating at restaurants – not for calorie control but pleasure.
What to do?
- Consider your values…
- Decide on what your goals are
- Consider how often you eat out.
- Is this legislation probably intended for you?
- What should the government actually do?
Do public health initiatives work in general?
- Smoking ban – in 2007 smoking in enclosed spaces became illegal in Britain. In 2006, 22% of adults smoked. 14% in 2019.
- Soft drinks industry levy (sugar tax) – manufacturers had to pay a tax for soft drinks with more than 8g of sugar per serving. Forced product reformulation.
- Minimum unit pricing (MUP) on alcohol in Scotland. The proportion of people with alcohol dependence typically drinking alcohol reduced substantially, from about 6 out of 10 people before MUP, to about 1 in 10 after MUP was introduced.
- Traffic light labelling system - introduced in 2014 - designed to give consumers an immediate idea as to whether something is healthy. The research shows it to be ineffective (Sacks, Rayner, Swinburn, 2009).
References:
Petimar J, Zhang F, Cleveland LP, Simon D, Gortmaker SL, Polacsek M, Bleich SN, Rimm EB, Roberto CA, Block JP. Estimating the effect of calorie menu labeling on calories purchased in a large restaurant franchise in the southern United States: quasi-experimental study. BMJ. 2019 Oct 30.
McGeown L. (2019). The calorie counter-intuitive effect of restaurant menu calorie labelling. Canadian journal of public health = Revue canadienne de sante publique, 110(6), 816–820.
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