Calorie count on the menu - on cards

London, United Kingdom, January 19: In a bid to tackle the growing menace of obesity, the British government’s Food Standards Agency has urged restaurants, workplace canteens, takeaway joints and all other food outlets to mention the calorie count for the eatables they sell.

Tim Smith, chief executive of the FSA said of the need to list the calorie count on the menus, "I don't see any compelling reason why we shouldn't provide that information. If consumers want to ignore it, they could, but we would be giving consumers a real choice."

To begin with, companies who volunteer will put up the food energy content on the menu. The FSA feels that others will, sooner than later, follow suit. This scheme will not be backed by legislation.

Jeff Alder of Consumer Focus appreciated the move. He said, "This is a really good first move by the FSA. We know that people want nutritional information before they order meals and there is very little help on menus for them at the moment. Calories labeling is one way for people to compare the relative healthiness of meal options at a glance so we hope businesses will be rushing to adopt it."

Smith opined that the chefs and cooks who present on television should also be sensitized to this issue and should provide the calorie information along with the recipe.

The United States already has rules and regulations in place with regard to this aspect. Fines are imposed on food chains that have 15 branches across the United States and do not print calorie count in an identical size print as the name of the food. This rule is applicable in New York. California has a somewhat similar rule.

As per guidelines, British women under the age of 50 need no more than 2,000 calories a day, whereas men of a similar age can make do with about 2,500 calories a day. The prescribed limit for children between five and ten years of age is 1,800 calories.