Calories on the menu - just why?

[Figmentofmyimagination]

Visited pizza express last night to catch up with a girlfriend - first visit since pre pandemic. Ordered my favourite fiorentina pizza with spinach and egg but my enjoyment was somewhat diminished by reading the 950 calorie count on the menu. I understand that this is the law now. Who decided that this is a good idea? Absolutely crazy.

I just ignore stuff like this … if I have 2000 calories to eat in a day and I’m having a bowl of porridge and a sandwich and fruit for lunch a 1000 calorie pizza as an occasional treat isn’t going to hurt …

@iloveeverykindofcat

Interesting that people think it will be 'bad for people with eating disorders'. I am technically diagnosed with anorexia, though to be honest if I were diagnosed today it would be arfid/autism. It's nothing to do with body image. I don't even own a full length mirror. Its about correctness, control, anxiety and numbers. This makes me 100% more able to eat out in a restaurant.

The origins of ARFID and anorexia are different though, they are seperate disorders. The view that anorexia is only about control and not body image has been debunked. It often occurs with body dysmorphia

Calories are not equal to how healthy a food is… it’s pointless!

@TheOGCCL

Dr Mosley did a documentary on this recently and what really came through was that the well trodden narrative of individuals with apparently no willpower or self control are the reason the country is obese is false. It’s more because our world is effectively designed to make people fat, from the buy one get one free offers on crisps to the way you need a car in many places.

I actually find the calories useful but I do think it smacks of putting all responsibility back on individuals. Restaurants could have a better offering of healthier options in the first place, eg fruit based desserts.

Saw that and thought what a green light to people to just blame someone else and absolve themselves of all responsibility. Overweight here, entirely through liking food far too much - I really like this and think it will do more good than ill.

Some will ignore it, some will tweak their habits because of it. As others have said, hopefully if more people choose lower calorie dishes, restaurants will be encouraged to offer healthier and/or smaller dish options.

I am eating out tomorrow night, and for interest went and tallied up what I would normally order in this restaurant - 2,683 across two courses, a G&T and a coffee. With this info easily available, I will change my rib eye for a fillet and order a different side dish.

I have no doubt I will enjoy the meal - and the company, which is frankly what the evening should be about - equally whilst saving myself about 700 calories. All to the good!

@BungleandGeorge Interesting. I suppose its just wrong to say its 'bad for people with eating disorders'. Bad for some, good for others. Which I suppose is true of a lot of broad 'health' measures.

It’s nuts. Anybody can eat anything out as part of a balanced diet. It doesn’t matter what the calories are. You have to be pretty dim not to know that if you have lasagna and chips for lunch anywhere you need a lighter tea but if you don’t and you eat out just once a week it’s fine anyway.

We have an epidemic of eating disorders. My Dd has been battling anorexia since lockdown.Just when she is starting to make progress we have this. No way will I be taking her out with calorie content in her face. We’ve been battling getting her to ignore calories and not constantly tot up. Eating out was part of her treatment, support workers took her to restaurants. It just wouldn’t work now. She is not alone.

Posters keep referring to “people with ED’s” as though ED’s are only restrictive - they are not.

@Figmentofmyimagination

I’m in my 50s, normal weight and normal relationship with food not overweight, but my 15 year old self would be been completely freaked out by that menu.

Why not tell people the salt content, where the eggs came from, or other more useful info if they really want to inform us.

You really DON'T have a normal relationship with food if this bothers you.

Isn't it only for companies with more than 250 employees?

If you don't like it, eat at independent or smaller places.

I am eating out tomorrow night, and for interest went and tallied up what I would normally order in this restaurant - 2,683 across two courses, a G&T and a coffee. With this info easily available, I will change my rib eye for a fillet and order a different side dish

I agree it should be available - but why not online or on a separate info sheet? Having it on the menu makes it unavoidable for people who have issues with restrictive eating.

It does have to be all or nothing - it's thinking about the delivery method of the information so people can choose whether to see it or not.

I'd rather have them just be available on request although Mumsnet loves to say "we've all lost sight of a healthy weight/portion sizes etc".* I'm in recovery from an eating disorder and seeing calorie numbers of any kind just triggers it at the minute & it's already a massive struggle to eat 3 meals a day, so unwittingly or not if I go for a coffee and see the calories it puts me in a mindset that can throw off the next few days. I just think they haven't listened to people with eating disorders talk about the impact on them because they don't care.

*I actively read a lot of those type of threads when I was in the throes of it because they were good at feeding it

"I agree it should be available - but why not online or on a separate info sheet? "

Because it's a hassle isn't it.

"I just think they haven't listened to people with eating disorders talk about the impact on them because they don't care."

Or maybe people with eating disorders shouldn't trump what is best for the majority.

I'm really glad they've done this.

I also have an eating disorder (overeating) and this is massively helpful so I can calorie count. I dare say the number of people it can help is at least an order of magnitude greater than the number of people it can hurt.

@Funkyslippers did calories listed influence my choice.

Yes and no. I walked in thinking I want lasagna. When I read the menu, I saw bolognese was the same price but several hundred calories less. When I told the waitress I was torn between two dishes, she said have the lasagna its much nicer! 😂

But I also had a salad, left some of the lasagna and had just ice cream for dessert

@InPraiseOfBacchus But you can't ignore people with eating disorders who have said they would find this unhelpful. Not everyone is the same as you, and making calories available on request would let people see them if they really wanted to without triggering other people who really don't want to.

My daughter and other teens eat out at the chain places. Part of her recovery is getting her out there doing stuff with friends. It’s bonkers. Do it on request but in your face for everybody no. I hope they are going to put a shed load more money into funding ED treatments on the back of this. There are already no inpatient beds to be found anywhere and resources in the community are hugely over stretched. This will exacerbate things and stretch out recovery.

Anorexia kills, is easy to take hold and ruthlessly hard to cure when it has taken hold.

@AwkwardPaws27

I am eating out tomorrow night, and for interest went and tallied up what I would normally order in this restaurant - 2,683 across two courses, a G&T and a coffee. With this info easily available, I will change my rib eye for a fillet and order a different side dish

I agree it should be available - but why not online or on a separate info sheet? Having it on the menu makes it unavoidable for people who have issues with restrictive eating.

It does have to be all or nothing - it's thinking about the delivery method of the information so people can choose whether to see it or not.

But that requires people to think/be motivated to look. If it's in front of me, personally, it will definitely help me make more conscious decisions in that moment when I'm looking at the menu. Sometimes they'll be good, sometimes they won't , but it will definitely help me.

I also agree that there are some dishes that are not obviously very high calorie, even though I have a decent grasp on food generally.

I do think that the people who eat excessively in this country massively outweigh (pun intended) those with restrictive eating, so all in all I would think this is a positive move. I would also think it is likely to expand to list macro levels in the future too, but all in all will be interesting to see where it goes.

Was talking to my sister this weekend about how often we ate out as children. I reckon once a year might be an exaggeration ... very different world we live in now, eating out is so much more commonplace for many. It will do no harm if both diners and restaurants are persuaded to more healthy options - and by that, I do mean healthy, not just restricted calories by removing fat and adding sweeteners.

Yeah I hate it. Had a chicken burger and chips at the cinema - 1990 calories. In one meal.

Im a size 8 and have a history of ED. It is not helpful for me. I don't need it and it is actively making eating out upsetting.

They should have a QR code for a non calorie menu I think.

@Notreallyhappy

Some loon decided that this will fight the obesity problem in the country. It would be helpful if they stop telling us that women can have 2000kcals per day and men 2500kcal.. 20% more than really needed.

Your pizza sounds fab!

Yep. Those figures are from decades ago when most people did manual work.

I'd be like an elephant (sorry elephants) if I ate anything close to 2000 cals a day.

@Gwenhwyfar Glad you think people with EDs should just shut up or never eat out to save the HASSLE. I could equally say it's not my problem if other people are overweight so why should I with a low BMI have to suffer because some people are fat? Except that would make me sound extremely unempathetic.

@DogsAndGin i don't think you can say its to help men
Many men don't care that much abut calories , diet clubs are not full of men , totally the opposite
Only here can men be blamed for something
Most people with eating disorders know calories well and many would look up long before going
Maybe a better idea would be to have calories listed on the back then info is there but only for who wants to read

Overeating isn’t an eating disorder. The only one that isn’t restrictive is binge eating disorder which is not the same as ‘overeating’ and can be found with or without restriction.

@Calandor

Yeah I hate it. Had a chicken burger and chips at the cinema - 1990 calories. In one meal.

Im a size 8 and have a history of ED. It is not helpful for me. I don't need it and it is actively making eating out upsetting.

They should have a QR code for a non calorie menu I think.

If you don't need to info can't you just ignore it?

You are not overweight, so why is it upsetting you?

@JinglingHellsBells Do you have any actual idea how eating disorders work, genuinely?.