Consultation underway on calorie labelling in Scotland

The public's views are being sought on whether displaying calorie information on café, restaurant and take-away menus should be mandatory in Scotland.

A new was introduced this week in England meaning 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.

Now the Scottish Government's launched a consultation on whether we should do the same here.

The 12-week consultation, which sets out the broad types of food and drink that would be covered, will seek views on how this could apply to:

• food and hospitality businesses, depending on their size

• public sector institutions such as hospitals and prisons

• pre-packed food such as filled sandwiches

• online takeaway menus

• children’s menus

Public Health Minister Maree Todd said:

Calorie labelling could be 'key factor' in addressing obesity in Scotland

“Before the pandemic, people living in Scotland were consuming more and more food and drink out of home or ordering it in. Whether it’s breakfast at a roadside café, grabbing a lunchtime soup and sandwich from a local convenience store or ordering food online from a restaurant, most of us were increasingly buying food outside the home – a trend I expect to resume as we recover from the pandemic.

“Two-thirds of the population living in Scotland is recorded as living with overweight or obesity – a key factor in our plan to address this is calorie labelling. We know that giving people more information, such as the number of calories in meals will enable people to make healthier choices when eating out, or ordering in.”

Proposal backed by Food Standards Scotland

Food Standards Scotland Head of Nutrition Science and Policy Dr Gillian Purdon said:

“We welcome the launch of the Scottish Government’s consultation on mandatory calorie labelling for the out of home sector.

“FSS has long proposed the introduction of mandatory calorie labelling as part of a suite of recommendations to address the nation’s poor diet. Alongside the consultation, we published the findings of two reports which highlight that overall, calorie information at point of choice can reduce the amount of calories ordered or consumed.

Any changes should be implemented in 'a sensible manner'

Head of Policy and External Affairs at the Scottish Retail Consortium Ewan McDonald-Russell said:

“Our members in grocery and food-to-go have led the way in providing calorie and nutritional information to consumers, over and above the action they have taken to promote healthier alternatives and reformulate products to reduce their salt, sugar and fat content.

“Introducing a mandatory approach to calorie labelling is therefore a reasonable proposition, provided it is implemented in a sensible manner and is applied to all businesses serving food and drink.”

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