This article by Social Change UK highlights research into the effect that displaying calories and nutritional information on menus has on eating behaviour.
Social Change UK have been following the idea of calories on menus and displaying nutritional information for years - not just on supermarket and pre-packaged goods but on all food, including loose food in restaurants. They have also set up a low cost food analysis service to help businesses find out what is in their food so they can display information and even reformulate it. They firmly sit in the camp that believes that information is power - if more people have access to information (and crucially they can understand it) then people can make informed decisions about what they eat. It might not stop people from eating something high in calories or fat like that 2000 calorie doughnut burger, but they may compensate by cutting out a meal.
Read more about the healthy takeaways project
Visit MenuLab - a low cost nutritional analysis service
If you are interested in nutritional information, working with restaurants and the commercial sector or trialling some pilot interventions please get in touch with Social Change UK.
