Are calorie labels on menus a waste of time?
A recent article in the Guardian reported that calorie labels encourage people to eat less by only a single crisp or two almonds.
The new labelling laws were introduced in April 2022, with large cafes, restaurants and takeaways with more than 250 staff, obliged to display the calorie counts of all non-packaged food and soft drinks they sell on their menus, online menus, third-party apps and food delivery platforms.
While shoppers are used to seeing nutritional information on products in supermarkets, the new policy was introduced to encourage people to consume fewer calories when eating out and having take-aways. Sadly this doesn’t seem to be the case.
There has been criticism that its introduction has led to an increased cost for businesses and there are now calls by the industry to review the policy.
The Guardian article was based on a review of 25 studies, running to over 100 pages, which found that calorie labelling only led to a small reduction in calories.
Some supporters believe calorie labelling has a role to play and that even small amounts could add up and potentially contribute to a reduction in overweight in the population.
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It is not news that the UK and many countries around the world are facing issues with obesity and ‘overconsumption’. According to latest NHS data, overweight (including obesity) remains relatively unchanged at 63% to 64% (2017 and 2022).
The difficultly is that calories are such a blunt tool, because they cannot tell you about the nutrients within food nor the impact on blood sugar. While all calories provide energy, their effects of the body vary widely.
A calorie is a standard unit of energy. It is the amount of energy needed to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water by 1 degree Celsius.
Another way to think about this is if a calorie is a mile in distance, that distance is always the same. However, that mile might be uphill, flat or downhill depending on the food being consumed.
The source of that calorie, the nutrient content of the food it came from and how it is metabolised by the body are all entirely changeable. Calorie labels cannot give you this information.
Whole foods, or nutrient-dense foods, such as fruit and vegetables, lean meats, whole grains will be providing essential vitamins, minerals and fibre. It is difficult to compare those to calories from ultra-processed foods which are more likely to be made up of ‘empty’ calories.
So while 100 calories derived from nuts, will be rich in protein, fat and fibre, keeping both blood sugar and energy stable and hunger at bay; 100 calories from biscuits will create a blood sugar spike, insulin surge and energy crash.
The calorie is nutrient-blind.
If someone is looking to lose weight, most of us know we need to eat less. But the easiest way to do this is by choosing foods which make us feel fuller, such as protein.
Depending on what we eat, our body has to work harder or less hard to extract the calories.
Ultra-processed foods are high in energy, because often they are lower in protein and fibre, and are very quick to digest. These foods have also been designed to be hyper-palatable, and usually high in sugar, fat and salt. Ultra-processed foods drive appetite, and people often end up eating more than they want to, because they designed to be delicious and they are less filling than ‘whole’ foods.
Calorie counting alone, is sadly not the answer when it comes to helping people make informed food decisions.
The quality of the calorie matters just as much as the quantity.
References
Calorie labels encourage people to eat less by only a single crisp, study says
Calorie (energy) labelling for changing selection and consumption of food or alcohol
https://www.cochranelibrary.
NHS Health Survey for England, 2022 Part 2
Assessing public perception and awareness of UK mandatory calorie labelling in the out-of-home sector: Using Twitter and Google trends data
Stop counting calories
Professor Giles Yo and the science of weight loss: why calories don’t count
https://zoe.com/learn/episode-
Has calorie labelling on menus done more harm than good
https://www.independent.co.uk/