Get ready for the new calorie labelling regulations

The fact that it applies to those who employ more than 250 people means it mainly impacts fast-food empires, restaurant and pub chains, and contract caterers. But even for these bigger players it does add an extra layer of cost and red tape.

"The timing really couldn't be any worse," says UKHospitality chief executive Kate Nicholls. "This is a hugely challenging moment for the hospitality industry, with businesses already battling on several fronts as they strive to recoup Covid-19 losses: staff shortages, operating cost pressures, crippling debt levels and depleted cash reserves, not to mention the looming triple-whammy of April VAT, rents and business rates increases." Operators agree.

Penalties for not labelling calories in restaurants

Sally Grimes, equality standards manager at workplace contract caterer Bartlett Mitchell, now known as BM, says: "There is clearly a significant obesity issue in the UK and we welcome any measures to tackle this. However, the impact of this legislation, at a time when the hospitality industry is facing major financial and recruitment challenges due to the pandemic, isn't ideal."

The regulations will carry non-compliance penalties of £2,500, and while UKHospitality has been working to ensure the sector is able and prepared, it has long called for a delay to their implementation. It is pressing for an enforcement grace period of at least six months post-April to allow businesses that are only just starting to recover time to get to grips with the legislation and ensure they're not unduly punished should they fall foul.

"It's unfair to expect businesses that have barely survived the past two years to now implement complicated and costly new labelling when they've much more pressing matters to attend to, including filling the gaping hole of staffing shortages as they prepare – at long last – to recoup some of their huge losses," says Nicholls.

"There also needs to be candid dialogue between hospitality businesses and their local authorities, based on the recently published UKHospitality FAQs, with councils acknowledging the difficulties operators will surely face when trying to comply with the new rules. And there must be a consistent approach across the country. It would be wrong to see businesses in one region punished more harshly than those in another."

Could calorie labelling prevent obesity?

The government contends that the law, which requires large businesses to display the calorie information of non-prepacked food and drinks prepared for immediate consumption, will deliver benefits over the long term by reducing obesity and thus the demand on the NHS – to the tune of £6.1b a year. To justify the legislation, it has stacked up the statistics – for instance, one-third of children in England are obese by the age of 11 and two-thirds of adults in the UK are overweight or obese, increasing the likelihood of developing Type 2 diabetes, cancers and other diseases.

It believes overconsumption can be exacerbated by eating out or buying takeaways, stating: "Research suggests that eating out accounts for 20%–25% of adult energy intake, and that when someone dines out or eats a takeaway meal they consume, on average, 200 more calories per day than if they eat food prepared at home. Data also tells us that portions of food or drink that people eat out or eat as takeaway meals contain, on average, twice as many calories as equivalent retailer own-brand or manufacturer-branded products."

In addition, the government says there is public support for the move. A Public Health England survey found that nearly 80% of respondents were in favour of calorie labelling, while a survey from Diabetes UK showed that around 60% of the public said they would be more likely to eat at an establishment that offered calorie labelling on its menus.

Certainly, the pandemic has put health at the forefront of the nation's minds, particularly in the wake of reports estimating that 63% of adults in the UK are at increased risk of disease and becoming seriously ill with Covid as a result of being overweight.

Many operators, however, already offer healthy menu options and are sceptical that providing calorie information will curb obesity.

"The sector has been making great strides in voluntarily offering healthy options based on what diners want to see on menus," says Nicholls. "What calorie labelling can do, though – with the co-operation of our sector – is helping guide people gently towards healthier eating choices. This legislation will ultimately play a small part in the wider efforts to reduce obesity."

Grimes points out that BM already promotes healthy eating at its contracts, signing up to Peas Please to encourage customers to eat more vegetables and running its own Delicious and Responsible Eating programme: "We've worked hard over the years to ensure we are offering balanced choices alongside promotional activity that helps to raise awareness of healthy eating and overall wellbeing."

The new legislation will increase administration, requiring businesses to display the energy content of the food in kilocalories (kcal) and the size of the portion at point of sale, which will entail the reorganisation of processes, more training and further investment in software.

Grimes says it is even more far-reaching than that: "The impact [is] significant for all obligated catering settings – not just in funding systems to provide the information, but also supplier declarations, labour to support recipe systems, menu development, planning of recipes and so on. The whole industry has spent a considerable amount of time and resource to prepare for this."

Calorie calculations

Certainly, software will help. Contract caterer Baxter Storey had started putting new systems and training in place ahead of the introduction of Natasha's Law in the autumn, including a Nutritics software system. "This allows all our suppliers to input details of their ingredients to each product they supply," says regional managing director Peter Kent. "This information is uploaded onto a central system and our teams create menus using this extensive database. This technology has been in place across our business for some time now, and we will be using this to include calorie calculations based on cooking methods and ingredients." The caterer also recently recruited a plant-based chef-consultant, Kirk Haworth, to strengthen training in how to promote wellbeing through cooking techniques and ingredients.

"The implementation of new labelling has no impact on our chef's creativity or the diversity of menus we can offer," says Kent. "Our chefs are entrepreneurial, monitoring food trends with a deep understanding of individual client and location needs… and we have seen the demand for healthy, nutritionally balanced options increase."

This chimes with Grimes's view that experienced operators have enough expertise to keep menus interesting, despite the legislation.

"Chefs in our sector are well-versed in adapting menus; this is where our training over the years has been crucial," she says, "but we will need to be mindful of the restrictions enforced by the legislation." The big question is whether the new legislation will affect consumer decisions. BM has 20 years' experience of providing healthier options on its menus, so what has the business noticed about customer habits?

For a start, Grimes is sceptical about the approach. "Obesity is known to be an issue most often starting in childhood," she says. "The legislation hasn't included co-educational settings under 18 years. It's important to continue providing overall education in schools – this is the foundation of the solution."

As for customer habits, she says: "Guests will continue to choose to have healthier days and less healthy days – fish and chips Friday isn't going anywhere," says Grimes.

"Like all caterers, we've offered varied choices for quite some time. People are more informed and knowledgeable about their own health and wellbeing at work…They are able to make conscious decisions about what they eat. We don't expect that putting calories on a menu will significantly change customer behaviours."

Offering versus demand

Kent agrees that while the legislation might help customers to make an informed choice, consumer demand is key: "The customer is in control of the choices they make, and we will continue to offer a balance of options, including a range of portion sizes, ingredients and cooking techniques," he says.

This is backed up by operators that already provide calorie information voluntarily. A spokesman at Wagamama, which has long provided kilocalories per serving and per 100g on its website, says the law requiring the 130 noodle bars to now display the information at point of sale will have only a marginal effect on its customers' decisions.

"[This is] partly because we are already open about the content of our food, including calories, and also because we know in most instances, eating out is a treat and people tend to balance things elsewhere on any given day".

And he adds Wagamama has systems in place to update nutritional information, which means chefs don't think twice about changing dishes. "Our chefs remain as creative as they ever were and will continue to innovate."

Several other players also list calories. Wetherspoon has been putting them on its menus since 2012; KFC uses menu boards; Nando's, Wagamama and PizzaExpress share information on their websites; and Itsu has been doing it since 2007.

These chains chose to do it and clearly make it work. Ultimately, though, the legislation is yet another hurdle for many businesses that are just starting on the road to recovery post-Covid.

Grimes sums up sentiment across the industry: "For us caterers, while we welcome any widespread strategy to tackle obesity, the move is going to increase cost to a sector that has been decimated by the pandemic. The spirit of the legislation is fantastic, [but] the timing isn't helpful."

What do you need to do?

Rules around the new Calorie Labelling (Out of Home Sector) (England) regulations

• The regulations are due to come into force in April 2022
• Any business with 250 or more employees has to provide calorie labelling on menus. This includes individual franchise outlets, provided that the wider franchisor has more than 250 employees
• It includes food and hot beverages that are sold on a website or mobile app
• Food that is sold through third-party delivery companies may need to display information at the point of choice, including: the energy content of the food in kilocalories (kcal); the size of the portion; and the statement that "adults need around 2,000 kcal a day"
• Calorie content can be based on manufacturer's analysis, calculations from known or average values in ingredients, or calculations from generally accepted data sets
• Exempt food includes specials that are on the menu for fewer than 30 days and children's menus
• Exempt businesses include hospitals, educational institutions for pupils below the age of 18, care homes and military establishments
• You could be served with an improvement notice and, if you fail to comply, you may have to pay a penalty of £2,500

For more detailed information, go to: www.gov.uk or www.ukhospitality.org.uk