By Caroline Winter
On the 6th of April, 2022, a new calorie-counting law came into effect in the United Kingdom. All businesses with over 250 employees would have to include calorie information on menus or face a £2,500 fine.
The law was propelled by serious concerns about obesity-related health problems, which cost the NHS roughly 6.1 billion pounds a year. As part of a new obesity-tackling strategy, calorie counting would help people track what they eat when they eat out at restaurants.
The law caused much controversy in the U.K., where people responded with mixed opinions on the subject of calorie counting.
The hospitality industry claimed the policy was poorly timed, arguing it threatens to derail the sector. After the huge setback caused by Covid-19, restaurants will now have to spend their limited resources on the time-consuming and expensive task of counting calories for each dish, only to then have to spend more funds on reprinting menus. There is also a worry in the industry that calories on menus will put people off certain dishes, or turn them off from eating out entirely.
According to the Guardian, however, consumers who were asked about the law mostly responded that the new policy would make little difference in what they would choose to eat. This, I’m sure, will be the stance for many on the new health policy.
But not everyone agrees.
Perhaps most vocally opposed, eating disorder organisations were adamantly against the new law. In a Twitter thread, Beat Eating Disorders critiqued the government's approach to tackling obesity. They stated that “there’s very limited evidence that the legislation will improve our eating habits.” Moreover, they claimed to be “extremely disappointed” about the new law, stating they “know it causes anxiety for people affected by eating disorders.”
According to Beat, “it can increase fixations on restricting calories for anyone with anorexia or bulimia,” and can “increase feelings of guilt for anyone with binge eating disorders.”
They concluded, finally, that the government had not taken an “evidence-based approach,” or “consult[ed] with eating disorder clinicians and experts” during the process of creating the health policy.
For those with eating disorders, the number of calories isn’t just a little number on a menu they can easily ignore. Calorie contents are a risky trigger that threaten to upset their precarious handle of their ED.
Amongst my own friends and family, thoughts were equally mixed.
Some took a neutral stance, responding that they had no opinion, or were not at all affected by the change. These friends claimed they thought it made little difference either way. They believed that many consumers probably wouldn’t even notice.
On the other hand, many opinions, especially amongst my male acquaintances, believed the new law to be a positive addition to eating out at restaurants. One friend claimed, “Personally I think it’s a good thing. I think informing people is the only way they can make the right decision for themselves.” They went on to suggest that many people are unaware of how many calories are in certain foods, particularly desserts, and that telling customers about calories could help them make better, informed decisions. Another friend agreed with this stance, suggesting that some people are unaware of how many calories they consume, particularly in fast-food establishments and when buying takeaways.
In fact, this is the very stance taken by the government. Public Health Minister Maggie Throup stated: “It is crucial that we all have access to the information we need to maintain a healthier weight, and this starts with knowing how calorific our food is. We are used to knowing this when we are shopping in the supermarket, but this isn’t the case when we eat out or get a takeaway.”
This is backed by research that found that consumers tended to underguess how many calories were in certain foods by an average of 165 calories per item.
And in a sense, the government is right to want to take action concerning obesity in the U.K. In 2020, over one million hospital admissions were obesity related, a 17% increase from the year before. As the leading risk factor for the development of type 2 diabetes, it is perhaps no surprise that ObesityUK strongly supported the health policy.
But the question isn’t whether or not we should be tackling obesity. It’s whether or not calorie counting is an effective method of combating obesity-related health problems.
A low-calorie diet isn’t necessarily a healthy one, just consider the Twinkie diet experiment, where Dr Mark Haub only ate supermarket junk food for 10 weeks (max 1800 calories a day), and still lost 27 pounds in two months. In weight loss, he concluded, limiting calories is the most important factor, not how nutritional or healthy those calories actually are.
However, although in the short term it can help lead to significant weight loss, it becomes less effective in the long run. Moreover, calorie counting has been strongly linked with the development of an unhealthy relationship with food. Therefore, for the vast majority, calorie counting often fails to lead to healthy weight loss in the long term.
We have to ask ourselves, at what cost?
Not only should we question whether or not calorie counting is actually effective, but we should also consider its highly detrimental effects that have led many to demand its immediate abolition.
An overwhelming amount of the responses from friends to my request for feedback on the new law claimed they thought it was a terrible idea.
“Now I won’t get something that’s on the menu if I see that it has a high-calorie count. It’s just so toxic, and there are better ways to tackle obesity,” one friend confided.
Another described it as awful. For those recovering from EDs, falling prey to calorie counting is very easy and highly damaging. “The government should tackle the issues that create poor food habits…such as through food education…rather than vilifying food itself.”
Additionally, many cited friends and acquaintances they knew who had been harmed by an obsessive need to calorie count each food consumed. And it’s true, one of the main fears is that calorie counting could lead to more people hyper-fixating on a number, without considering all the other things a dish has to offer.
In reality, there are so many different factors that contribute to obesity - calories are only one of them. The assumption is that dishes with fewer calories are somehow better. But calories only tell us how much energy is in a food, not the nutritional benefits of a meal.
As Hawksmoor co-founder Will Beckett points out, a bowl of All-Bran with a banana and some yoghurt has the same amount of calories as a McDonald's cheeseburger. Yet one is obviously far healthier than the other. Only looking at calories is the wrong way of targeting healthy eating, not to mention the plethora of alarming consequences that calorie counting can induce.
What’s clear is that “calories in and calories out” is a dangerous form of dieting. In fact, research has proven that calorie counts on menus simply aren’t effective, such as in places like New York where they’ve been mandatory since 2008.
So why has the government decided to implement this new policy, where obesity is prioritised over eating disorders, despite 1.25 million people suffering from EDs in the U.K?
My heart goes out to everyone who will now have to face additional anxiety when visiting a restaurant. This new policy is likely to hinder so many people on their journey to recovering from eating disorders. It is likely to turn people away from eating out, guilting them into picking dishes they don't want, simply because they have fewer calories.
Especially in the aftermath of the pandemic, the privilege of eating out and socialising with loved ones should be accessible to all, regardless of one’s relationship with food. Being able to see calorie counts should be an option, never a requirement. That’s why restaurants such as Wagamama’s, who have pledged to offer calorie-free menus in all their restaurants, are to be commended. Those who wish to see them can. The rest of us can ignore them.
But what do you think about the new health policy? Do you think it’s a good idea, or should it never have been passed?
If you feel that this new law could be stress-inducing for you, reach out to friends or a medical professional, or consult this free resource on eating out with calorie counting.
Edited by Charlotte Lewis ( Editor-in-Chief)
Comments