More food chains must display calorie information, says Which?

5th September 2011, 9:05am

A total of 37 food companies have agreed to voluntarily provide calorie information in its stores as part of the Government’s Public Health Responsibility Deal.

According to a Which? report, two thirds of consumers think it's important that the calorie content of food is provided when they're eating out, but many major national chains are failing to deliver.

The major chains taking this positive step to display calorie information are Prêt à Manger, Starbucks, McDonald's, Burger King, Harvester, KFC and Pizza Hut, meanwhile their competitors Subway, Pizza Express, Domino's Pizza, Nando's, Caffè Nero and Costa still haven't signed up.

Figures found that a Burger King Whopper has around a third more calories than a McDonald's Big Mac, a Starbucks 'skinny' lemon and poppy seed iced muffin contains more calories than its standard apple and cinnamon muffin. 

A slice of carrot cake from Costa has more calories than a chocolate custard Krispy Kreme doughnut and opting for a 7oz fillet steak rather than a 10oz rib eye steak at a Harvester would save a 700 calories.

Jill McDonald, chief executive officer and president, McDonald's UK, said: "In March we announced our intention to extend the communication of nutritional information to our customers to include displaying calories on our menu boards across the UK. This move, as part of the Public Health Responsibility Deal, supports the principles we believe are important: giving our customers clear information to help them make decisions that are right for them and provide a choice on our menu."

Brian Waring, vice president of marketing & category, Starbucks UK and Ireland, said: "We are committed to being as transparent as possible when it comes to giving our customers nutritional information and it's important that we do so in a way that's useful and easy to use.  During our recent trials customers backed the move and told us it was the right thing to do."

Susan Jebb, chair of the Responsibility Deal Food Network added: "This is an exciting time for our high street.  McDonald's, one of our largest restaurant chains, will now give every customer the information they need to make an informed choice about what they eat.

"I hope this example encourages other restaurants to introduce calorie labelling and makes people question what those without calorie labelling have got to hide."

The provision of calorie information for chain restaurants with 20 or more locations across the country has now been made law in the US. Recent evidence from New York, where calorie information was first displayed, shows several major chains saw significant reductions in the average calorie content per purchase.

Which? executive director Richard Lloyd, said: "We all like to eat out sometimes without counting calories, but our research shows that most people want to see calorie information for their meal. We've found there can be huge nutritional differences between apparently similar foods.

"Which? wants to see all major national food chains signing up to provide calorie information. There's no excuse for the companies already displaying calories in the US not to do the same here. If calorie labelling cannot be achieved on a voluntary basis, we want the Government to make it a legal requirement."

Health secretary Andrew Lansley concluded: "One in six meals are now eaten outside the home and for those meals we often have no idea how many calories we are eating.

"That is why this is such a great achievement by the Responsibility Deal.  It will help people spot those hidden calories in their favourite foods and keep an eye on their waistlines."

Related Articles:

• 12 Sep 2011 - Harvester says customers are eating 25 fewer calories since nutrition labelling
• 06 Apr 2009 - Catering companies to display calories on menus
• 27 Jan 2009 - Compass supports FSA's calorie labelling initiative
• 15 Jan 2009 - Restaurants and caterers to trial menu labelling

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