Warning over calorie labels on menus
A Harrogate eating disorder service claims the move could lead to more people developing unhealthy relationships with food.
Health officials at an eating disorder service in Harrogate have warned of the detrimental impact of having calorie counts on food menus could have on people who already have poor relationships with food.
The Government is renewing a drive to tackle obesity and improve the nation’s health by labelling calorie numbers on restaurant, café and takeaway menus from as early as April next year.
But specialists are concerned this could lead to people who are in recovery from eating disorders to regress, or even influence people to develop poor unhealthy attitudes to food.
Mary Franklin-Smith, early intervention lead at CONNECT, told Greatest Hits Radio it is implying calories are wrong.
She said: “It’s going to be so hard for somebody who is trying to recover or someone who is developing an eating disorder.
“They’ve already got rules in their head and an idea of what is right and wrong. We need to move away from that and have food flexibility and food freedom.
“If they go out to a restaurant and there’s a calorie count there it’s a rigid black and white rule which doesn’t take into account an individual reading that number who has their own individual needs.
“It’s just another way of comparing. People think ‘what number calories am I have compared to the person next to me’. It’s so outside in to just look at calories. There isn’t a black or white rule but this is suggesting there is.
“For someone with an eating disorder it’s going to make it very hard for them to be flexible because in their mind and their body they’re going to be thinking ‘there is a right and a wrong here.’”
Regulations will be laid in parliament later today (14 May 2021) that will require large businesses with 250 or more employees in England to display calorie information of non-prepacked food and soft drink items that are prepared for customers.
The Government insists the measure will help people to ensure they are able to make more informed, healthier choices when it comes to eating food out or ordering takeaways.
Public Health Minister, Jo Churchill, said: “Our aim is to make it as easy as possible for people to make healthier food choices for themselves and their families, both in restaurants and at home. That is why we want to make sure everyone has access to accurate information about the food and drink we order.
“These measures form an important building block in our strategy to support and encourage people in achieving and maintaining a healthier weight.”
CONNECT, which launched in April 2018, has been set up as a two-year pilot project funded by NHS England as part of their ‘new care programmes’. It aims to provide fair access to NHS care for adults with eating disorders across the area – something that had not been in place until its launch.