Those eating out at some of Gedling borough’s larger pubs and restaurants will see calories on menus from today (6).
Establishments with more than 250 staff must now display how many calories are in the meals shown 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.
Some High Street chains in the borough already publish information about the calorie content of their food on their menus, such as Wetherspoons pubs and McDonald’s who have been doing it for more than a decade.
Some restaurants fear it will increase their costs, while an eating disorder charity says it could contribute to harmful thoughts and behaviours.
Kate Nicholls, boss of the industry group UK Hospitality, told BBC News that the new rules had come at the “worst possible time for thousands of businesses struggling to survive”.
“We’ve long called for a delay to the implementation of calorie labelling, and we’d like to see a grace period post-April to allow businesses breathing space in which to implement the new rules without the risk of unnecessary enforcement action from day one,” she said.
“It’s completely unfair to expect businesses devastated by Covid to all of a sudden introduce complicated and costly new labelling when they’ve much more pressing matters to attend to – recouping their losses of the past 24-months for a start.”
Beat, the UK’s eating disorder charity, claimed that making calories on menus mandatory could contribute to harmful eating disorder thoughts and behaviours worsening.
Tom Quinn, the charity’s director of external affairs, said there was evidence that calorie information causes anxiety and distress for people affected by eating disorders.
“It can increase a fixation on restricting calories for those with anorexia or bulimia, or increase feelings of guilt for those with binge eating disorder,” he said.
“There is also very limited evidence that the legislation will lead to changed eating habits among the general population.”
