Calorie labelling legislation

Hot on the heels of allergen labelling legislation which took effect in October last year, and at a time when many hospitality businesses are still trying to get back on their feet in the wake of Covid, comes new Calorie Labelling (Out of Home Sector) (England) Regulations 2021.

CALORIE DETAILS REQUIRED

From 6 April 2022, the new Calorie Labelling (Out of Home Sector) (England) Regulations 2021 came into effect, meaning that many food and hospitality businesses will now be required to display calorie information to customers.

Under these new regulations, food businesses with more than 250 employees will be required to provide calorie information on physical menus, online menus, food delivery platforms or food labels. And in line with the Calorie Labelling Regulations, businesses will be required to include the energy content of the food in kilocalories (kcal), reference to the size of the portion which the calorie information relates to and a statement that ‘adults need around 2,000 kcals a day’.

It is estimated that twothirds of adults in the UK are now overweight or obese. This new legislation aims to tackle these rising numbers and promote consumer choice, enabling people to make more informed choices and opt for healthier meals.

The Calorie Labelling Regulations apply to foods sold for immediate consumption including prepacked for direct sale (PPDS) items like grab and go sandwiches and salads. They affect out of home food businesses with 250+ employees and those that do not comply could face fines of up to £2,500.

While some businesses may already state calorie content on menus or labelling, the regulations require clear calorific declarations at every ‘point of choice’ for consumers. So, for example, in a single outlet this could extend to a menu board, on-table menus, product labels, display cabinets and an ordering app.

Discussing the regulatory changes, George Macfie, food technical manager at testing, inspection and certification company, Bureau Veritas, said: “The health of adults and children has long been a hot topic with various tactics put in place over the years to reduce unhealthy eating, including restrictions on television advertising.

“However, with data now showing a staggering number of adults measuring as overweight or obese, the government is taking muchneeded action on larger food businesses to ensure they play their part in supporting informed and smarter food choices.

“The legislation will impact a significant number of food businesses, including restaurants, cafés, fast food outlets and takeaways, specialist food stores such as delicatessens and sweet shops, as well as domestic transport businesses including planes, trains and ferries.”

EDUCATE AND INFORM

According to Bureau Veritas, it will be key for business to educate staff members in order to pave the way for a successful transition to the new rules, as they will very likely be responsible for informing visitors on the calorie information and where this can be found.

It’s also vital that the calorie information is calculated using average values and supported by data, based on either the manufacturer’s analysis of the food, a calculation from the known ingredients used or from established and accepted data, they propose.

George Macfie added: “These food businesses have been focusing on processes to meet the requirements of other regulations such as Natasha’s Law – the legislation governing allergy labelling of food. Now the focus turns to calorie labelling. This is a positive change in the provision of nutritional information which must be researched, planned for, and welcomed.

“By implementing changes to food labelling and display, everyone involved can meet the new requirements and support customers to make better food choices. If it seems daunting, we would encourage firms to seek support from external specialist partners.”

Bureau Veritas says that it has recently launched a Calorie Labelling: Guidance for Food Businesses guide which includes all the relevant information for food businesses to follow and details of the exempt food types and organisations (and downloadable from their web site, www.bureauveritas. co.uk).

IMPACT UNCERTAIN

Sophie Claessens, company dietitian at procurement specialist, allmanhall, acknowledges that the new regulations have caused a lot of controversy in both the hospitality sector and nutrition industry in terms of their possible impact on both eating habits and businesses. “The government says that it will help in the mission to tackle obesity but many nutrition professionals think it is likely to either have no impact at best or a negative impact at worst,” she said.

“Many health professionals who work with individuals with eating disorders worry that it will have a negative impact on their recovery. The other concern is that calories

are not the only number to consider when deciding what to eat; most registered dietitians would tell you that in fact, calorie counting is not a healthy way to manage weight. What about the fi bre, protein, healthy fats and vitamins and minerals that you may be getting from that meal?

“And how will it impact restaurants? Many called for a delay in these regulations to give the industry time to recover after a diffi cult two years. That’s because these regulations will have required a signifi cant amount of work to get menus up to standard. Additionally, many chefs are saying that it will quash creativity with dishes due to the time and eff ort to calculate the calorie content for any new dishes and for fear that it will increase the calories.”

LABELLING SOLUTIONS

UK’s foodservice wholesaler, Brakes, reports that it has created a number of new resources following feedback from some of its customers that these regulations were causing concern and confusion in the countdown to the 6 April 2022 introduction.

Identifying some exclusions and complications, Brakes has created a range of resources to help customers better understand how the legislation impacts their business (these include practical guides and a twopart on-demand webinar which can be accessed at https://www.brake.co.uk/ virtual-food-event).

In addition, the company has partnered with Nutritics to launch the Virtual Chef, aimed at making the entire process simpler. Virtual Chef is an all-encompassing recipe management tool, feeding from a live list of Brakes’ products and incorporating highlighted allergen and nutritional information. This helps save time and lowers risk by reducing human error and avoids having to separately enter data for allergens and calories, claim the company. With a bespoke label design functionality too, outlets are able to comply with legislation for adding calories to menus and provide relevant allergen information.

Gerry Thomas, technical director at Brakes, commented: “The feedback we’ve received from customers is that some are unsure about this legislation and how it applies to them. We’ve therefore tried to create a range of resources that make it as easy as possible for individual operators to ensure that they are compliant with the new rules.”

Food labelling company, Planglow, have announced that they are off ering food and drink businesses of all sizes a quick and easy way to calculate and add calorie information to labels and displays using their awardwinning food labelling app LabelLogic Live.

To aid food and drink operators in producing compliant information, the company has added a calorie labelling tool to its LabelLogic Live which allows users to automatically calculate the calorie content of food and drink products and simply add to their labelling and ticketing.

Planglow’s technical director Richard Newman commented: “The new calorie labelling regulations are of course preceded by the winter Covid restrictions and the introduction of Natasha’s Law last October which, understandably, have left many food and drink providers on the back foot. We have therefore developed a way to produce fully regulation-compliant labels and ticketing in a few simple clicks without costing businesses yet further setbacks.”

The calorie calculator is accessed via the company’s online labelling app, LabelLogic Live, and works on any web-connected laptop, computer, mobile phone or tablet, users creating their food labels online and then printing using a standard desktop printer.

IMPLICATIONS FOR SMALLER BUSINESSES LONG TERM?

Smaller businesses are currently exempt, as are food and drink providers within Scotland and Wales, although further legislation is anticipated in the next two years. Exceptions are made for some operators - such as schools - and certain food and drink off erings (for example off -menu choices as requested by the customer).

“While large businesses only are currently required to give calorifi c declarations, we feel SMEs will increasingly be encouraged to do so too over the coming 18-24 months,” Richard Newman added.