Ministers consult on requiring calorie counts in menus

Mandatory calorie labelling when people eat out or buy takeaway food, as part of action to address obesity, has been put to the public for their views in a new consultation.

With two-thirds of the population living in Scotland recorded as living with overweight or obesity, excess weight continues to be one of the biggest and most complex public health challenges.

The Scottish Government says that almost everyone in Scotland (98%) consumes food outside the home; however nutrition information is not always available.

Its paper seeks views on how calorie labelling 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; and
• children’s menus.

Questions cover how to make information easily accessible and understood; the advice and guidance businesses may require; any unintended consequences and impact on health and other inequalities that may arise, and how to mitigate these; and what exemptions might apply.

Responses will inform whether legislation is introduced to make it a legal requirement for calories to be included on menus, as part of the Government’s wider actions to ensure Scotland is a place where people eat well and have a healthy weight, including its aim to halve childhood obesity by 2030. Ministers will keep the position under review as the policy develops.

Public Health Minister Maree Todd commented: “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. This is not novel practice – calories are already required on retail food purchases, and calorie labelling for out-of-home sites is mandated in many other countries.

“Many food companies in Scotland have already taken this significant step voluntarily. We want to learn from those experiences and I would urge everyone to share their thoughts in this consultation.”

“With eating out is now an everyday occurrence and nearly a quarter of our calories coming from food and drink purchased outside of home, mandatory calorie labelling is one way to support people to make healthier options.”

Ewan McDonald-Russell, head of Policy and External Affairs at the Scottish Retail Consortium added: “Introducing a mandatory approach to calorie labelling is a reasonable proposition, provided it is implemented in a sensible manner and is applied to all businesses serving food and drink. The pandemic has laid bare many of the health inequalities in Scotland – measures need to apply across industry to ensure the most effective outcome and ensure firms which have taken positive action in this area are able to compete on a level playing field.”

Access the consultation here. The closing date for responses is 1 July 2022.