Calorie Labelling FAQs

Businesses that are adopting the calorie labelling legislation must:

• Display the energy content of the food in kilocalories (kcal)
• Reference the size of the portion to which the calorie information relates
• Display the statement that ‘adults need around 2000 kcal a day’

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Calorie information, the reference to portion size, and the statement of daily calorie needs must be displayed clearly and prominently at the ‘point of choice’ for the customer; this is considered any place where customers choose what food and drink to buy. For businesses where consumers may choose their food in several locations, such as a menu on the premises, a display case on the premises, and an online menu, businesses are required to provide calorie information at each.

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Information displayed must be easily visible, clearly legible and not hidden/obscured. Ensuring the information is easily visible could be achieved by using the same font type or style of lettering, colour, size and background of the description or price of the corresponding item.

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The statement of calorie needs ‘adults need around 2000 kcal a day’ must be displayed once on every page of the menu (and where the menu is a double-sided card, on each side of the menu). If on a menu board, ensure the statement can be easily read when looking at the board.

NB – Children’s menus are not required to display this statement.

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For accuracy of calorie calculations these can be based on

• Manufacturers analysis
• Calculation from known or average values in ingredients
• Calculation from generally accepted data sets

However, businesses are permitted a 20%+/- change to the calorie content of the dish without having to update the calorie information on the menu. In view of inherent variations in ingredients, processing of foods etc. there can be a tolerance of 20%.

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The regulations permit businesses to provide a menu without the required calorie information at the express of the customer. While a menu without calorie information can be provided at the request of the customer, a menu with the required calorie information must be offered to the customer by default

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Children’s menus are required to display calorie information, however you are not required to display the statement ‘adults need around 2000 kcal a day’ as the calorie needs of children are less. The statement does not need to be included on a menu which only lists food and drink for children, or on a page in a menu if the page only lists food and drink for children.

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For draught or non-prepacked soft drinks, coffee etc, that are not on the menu, calorie information will need to be shown on the bar tariff as this will act as the ‘point of choice’ at the bar. If the customer is ordering soft drinks seated at a table (for example) from a menu, this will be the point of choice and the calorie information should be displayed there (or a combination of both options).

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Pre-packed food and drink are exempt. Opening the product or putting it in a glass for the customer does not alter this. For best practice, you could give the consumer the item so they could see the calorie information on the bottle before discarding it.

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