Calorie counts on menus being considered for Scotland

Restaurants, cafes and takeaways in Scotland could be required to display how many calories are in the meals on their menus.

A public consultation on the idea of mandatory calorie counts on menus has been launched by the Scottish government.

The proposal is part of moves to tackle obesity by helping people to make healthier choices.

New rules on displaying calorie data came into force in England on Tuesday.

Eateries south of the border with more than 250 staff must now print how many calories are in meals on their menus, websites, and on delivery platforms.

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The 12-week Scottish government consultation seeks views on the types of food and drink that would be covered by any changes and the types of businesses which would take part in the initiative.

Public Health Minister Maree Todd said the consultation would inform whether a new law is introduced to make it a legal requirement for calories to be included on menus.

She added: "Two-thirds of the population living in Scotland is recorded as living with overweight or obesity - a key factor in our plan to address this is calorie labelling.

"We know that giving people more information, such as the number of calories in meals, will enable people to make healthier choices when eating out or ordering in.

"This is not novel practice - calories are already required on retail food purchases and calorie labelling for out-of-home sites is mandated in many other countries."

Any changes to menus could mean extra costs for restaurants and other food businesses

Some High Street chains, , such as Wetherspoons pubs and McDonald's restaurants, already publish information about the calorie content of their food on their menus.

Critics of the changes in England argue the move is a blunt instrument as it does not give the full nutritional picture of the food choices.

And some charities have warned there is evidence that calorie information causes anxiety and distress for people affected by eating disorders.

Leon Thompson, of the trade body UK Hospitality, said: "Following this week's introduction of calorie labelling in England, it is important that the Scottish government hears views from businesses on the impact such a scheme will have on them and their customers.

"There is already anecdotal feedback from businesses in England of the effects calorie labelling is having in terms of cost and resources, as well as customer relations.

"It is essential that that we avoid such pitfalls. Our businesses are still very fragile as they strive to rebuild after the pandemic - they need time to recover, free from further regulatory burdens."

'Reasonable proposition'

Ewan McDonald-Russell, head of policy and external affairs at the Scottish Retail Consortium, said: "Introducing a mandatory approach to calorie labelling is a reasonable proposition provided it is implemented in a sensible manner and is applied to all businesses serving food and drink.

"The pandemic has laid bare many of the health inequalities in Scotland - measures need to apply across industry to ensure the most effective outcome and ensure firms which have taken positive action in this area are able to compete on a level playing field."

Food Standards Scotland has published a review of existing research which suggests that calorie labelling could lead to a reduction in population-level calories being ordered and consumed.