37 companies have agreed to voluntarily provide calorie information in-store as part of the UK government’s Public Health Responsibility Deal.
The major chains taking this step to display calorie information are Prêt à Manger, Starbucks, McDonald’s, Burger King, Harvester, KFC and Pizza Hut. Meanwhile, their competitors, Subway, Pizza Express, Domino’s Pizza, Nando’s, Caffè Nero and Costa still haven’t signed up.
Which? research has found just how important it is that people can see how many calories they’re eating and are able to compare products, as the nutritional value of foods is often surprising:
The provision of calorie information for chain restaurants with 20 or more locations across the country has now been made law in the US.
Recent evidence from New York, where calorie information was first displayed, shows several major chains saw significant reductions in the average calorie content per purchase.
Which? executive director Richard Lloyd says: “We all like to eat out sometimes without counting calories, but our research shows that most people want to see calorie information for their meal. We’ve found there can be huge nutritional differences between apparently similar foods.
“Which? wants to see all major national food chains signing up to provide calorie information. There’s no excuse for the companies already displaying calories in the US not to do the same here. If calorie labelling cannot be achieved on a voluntary basis, we want the government to make it a legal requirement.”
Source: Which?
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