Calorie labels on menus are not working, study finds
Forcing cafés and restaurants to put calorie labels on their menus has had no measurable impact on UK diners’ consumption, a study has found.
In 2022 larger food outlets were required to publish calorie counts next to meals — with the government arguing it would make it “possible for people to make healthier food choices”.
New research has found that while those healthier food choices might be possible, Britain’s restaurantgoers have chosen not to make them.
According to the study, published in the journal Nature Human Behaviour, just a third of us noticed the labelling, and of those who did only a fifth said it changed their behaviour. That change was itself not measurable.
Before the introduction of the labelling, an average diner consumed just over 1,000 kcals per meal. Afterwards, the research found that it was more, at 1,080 kcals. Statistically, once the researchers had adjusted for them being slightly different groups, there was no difference.
Tom Sanders, professor emeritus of nutrition and dietetics at King’s College London, was not involved in the research. He said that the findings were disappointing but not a reason to abandon the labelling.
