Unfortunately those of us who were once open minded, open-hearted and greedily open-mouthed about menu choices have undergone a sea change. Now that businesses of a certain size have been legally compelled to state the calorific content of the food they serve, going out to eat is no longer something we can do in a state of blissful denial.
And with the festive season upon us it’s only going to get worse. When the writing is on the wall, or rather the plate. Fancy the Brie, cranberry, nuts, roast potato, sausage and turkey special?
That’ll be your calorific need for an entire year (well, almost). Think grazing on cashews and olives is the – ahem – healthy option? Forget it. Those little babies may be good for your heart but given that there are calories in they are also ruinous, in large amounts, for the waistline.
It was always a stupid idea to put calorific values on menus. The whole point of eating out was that we diners could relax. Not only from shopping, prepping, cooking and clearing up. But also be willingly disenfranchised from how “naughty” a dish might be. After all, the very fact you`re eating out renders the meal a little more special. Who needs the small matter of how fattening our lamb chops might be and so burst the bubble of an evening away from the kitchen?
Since 2022 we`ve had to endure calorie information being displayed on menus – though “only” for businesses with 250 or more employees that sells non-pre-packed food or drink for immediate consumption. Still, there are plenty of restaurants, cafes, pubs, fast food outlets and more which fall into this sub-group. Rendering the simple pleasure of buying a cheese pastie a cause for indigestion.
The new legislation was designed to tackle obesity. A virtuous idea. But in the process it has left ordinary – not least those with eating disorders – panicked when they go out to eat. For those with a harmfully addictive relationship with food , calorie labelling surely increases stress, even potentially driving those who are vulnerable to binge eat, exercise excessively or massively restrict the food they eat.
Even for those without any extra challenges, having the facts laid bare is enough to put you off your lunch. Since seeing calories in print is like finger pointing – judgmentally and judiciously – at the food choices we make.
That’s why a new study published recently in Nature Human Behaviour which found that labelling made no difference to how many calories people bought or ate should serve as a warning. Proof that the policy is not only ineffective but potentially dangerous.
There’s no doubt that we have a spiralling obesity issue in this country. Driven by Covid or unhappiness? Perhaps. Though equally there are those who simply lack the effort and willpower to change their habits.
But clearly calorie labelling isn’t working – it has to go. Instead the focus should be on education and personal responsibility, shifting the fabled goal posts so that we can, as a society better understand why people eat more than they need.
Meanwhile the longer those numbers stay on the menu, the more they become a recipe for unhappiness and even disaster. That’s a cost – unlike calories – which can’t be counted.
Merry Christmas.
