When eating out, diners in England will now see calories on menus.

Restaurants, cafes and takeaways with more than 250 staff must print calorie data alongside each menu option on their menus, websites, and on delivery platforms. The new rule is part of government plans to tackle obesity by helping people to make healthier choices.

Some restaurants fear it will increase their costs, while an eating disorder charity says it could contribute to harmful thoughts and behaviours.

Under the new rules, large food and drink businesses in England with 250 or more employees must display the calorie information of non-prepacked food and soft drinks.

Some High Street chains already publish information about the calorie content of their food on their menus, such as Wetherspoons pubs and The Real Greek restaurants. McDonald’s has been doing it for more than a decade.

Kate Nicholls, boss of the industry group UK Hospitality, said the new rules came at the “worst possible time for thousands of businesses struggling to survive”. She said:

“It’s completely unfair to expect businesses devastated by Covid to all of a sudden introduce complicated and costly new labelling when they’ve much more pressing matters to attend to – recouping their losses of the past 24-months for a start.”

If you’d like to know whether this new legislation applies to your business, or you’re looking for a solution to effectively manage your menus, products and calorie information, we can help…

MenuIQ is a complete menu management system providing an effective tool to smoothly manage the introduction of this new legislation within your business.

With only a matter of weeks to go, you’ll be pleased to hear that, while it’s packed full of advanced functionality, it's simple to use and fast to set up.

MenuIQ will ensure your menus, food labels and delivery platforms display the required information allowing your customers to make informed choices.

Get in touch to find out more or book a demo today.