Calorie counts on menus are deathly boring – and dangerous

Eating out with family or friends is one of life’s most simple and universal pleasures; there is nothing better than whiling away the hours over a plate of delicious food and a large glass of wine in a nice restaurant (and not having to clean up after). But a new government policy threatens to suck the joy out of the experience. Restaurants, cafes and takeaway services with 250 or more employees will be required to display calorie information across their menus from Thursday.

The legislation, designed to “make sure people are able to make more informed, healthier choices when it comes to eating food out or ordering takeaways” and tackle obesity, has been met with backlash: a Good Morning Britain Twitter poll asking whether the legislation will be effective received a resounding 81.3 per cent vote of “no” votes. 

Th policy is a lazy attempt to combat obesity and will swiftly remove much of the enjoyment of eating at restaurants for many people, causing distress for those trying to recover from eating disorders and enabling restrictive behaviours in those still struggling with anorexia, bulimia or binge eating. 

“We’re extremely disappointed that the government is making calories on menus mandatory,” tweeted the Eating Disorder charity BEAT, “on multiple occasions, we called on the government to reconsider the impact this legislation will have on people with eating disorders.”

For the many girls and women I know who have struggled with disordered eating (and there are many), deleting calorie counting apps has often been the first step to healing their relationship with food. Being confronted by calories every time you try and eat out could all too easily undo this progress, something the government has chosen to overlook. 

The legislation claims the measures will provide “accurate information about the food and drink we order”, but since when are calories the ultimate indicator of a healthy diet? A small croissant may contain fewer calories than avocado toast with smoked salmon or an egg, but one has a balanced mix of healthy fats, carbohydrates and protein whilst the other is a sweet treat, good for the soul but not necessarily hitting all the food groups. 

As with any legislation, there are people who will undoubtedly benefit from the measures; those trying to lose weight for health reasons or suffering from conditions that require a certain number of calories to be consumed. But as those of us with food allergies or intolerances well know, most (if not all) restaurants have not one but three menus available; a regular menu, a menu listing ingredients and potential allergens and a nutritional values menu with details of calories and carbohydrates, that can be viewed upon request. The calorie counts are there for those who need them, but shouldn’t be forced upon everyone. 

There is a huge difference between living to eat and eating to live and government-enforced calorie counting also signals a further shift away from food as pleasure and enjoyment and more towards a tickbox of basic necessity, something that food replacement products such as Huel have been encouraging over the last few years. 

By turning nutrition into a neat number that most people don’t truly understand and incorrectly use to rank foods “good or bad”, calorie counting seems to override any basic nutritional education, likely due to how deeply entrenched diet culture is in our world. There is nothing healthy about encouraging people to choose low fat or low-calorie meals over less processed whole foods, just because of a number applied to them. 

If listing calories on food products had any proven effectiveness, we would also know it by now. Any product you buy in the supermarket lists its calories, and yet 63 per cent of adults in England are overweight or living with obesity, suggesting relative ineffectiveness.

The government would be better off investing in nutritional education at school, teaching young people about macro and micronutrients, where food comes from and how it is produced and the lifelong negative implications of eating disorders. That way children would grow up armed with the knowledge of how to best look after their bodies and be able to enjoy a balanced diet without needing to become fixated on numbers. 

According to the NHS, more young people than ever are receiving treatment for eating disorders and anorexia nervosa has the highest mortality rate of all psychiatric diseases. Reduction and prevention of eating disorders should be just as important as reducing and preventing obesity – it is astonishing the government has ignored BEAT’s warning of the dangers of this legislation.

The government must think twice about the benefit and risks of mandatory calorie information, before pouring fuel on the fire of a mental health crisis they are already struggling to get under control.