Calorie labelling in restaurants and cafes has not resulted in customers choosing healthier meals, a study suggests.
The Government introduced mandatory calorie labelling in England for businesses that serve food in April 2022 as part of its national obesity strategy, with the aim of helping diners make healthier choices.
However a new study led by researchers from the University of Liverpool found that while the policy has increased customer awareness of calories in food, it has not had a substantial effect on consumption.
The study used customer surveys taken in 330 food outlets across England, covering cafes, fast food restaurants, pubs and sit-down restaurants, both before and after mandatory calorie labelling was introduced.
More than 6,500 customers provided information about their calorie consumption, their awareness and use of calorie information and their understanding of the amount of calories in their meals.
The study, published in Nature Human Behaviour, found “no meaningful decrease” in the number of calories bought or consumed after mandatory labelling was introduced.
This was despite the proportion of customers noticing information about the calories in their meals rising from 16.5% before the policy was introduced to 31.8% afterwards.
Just 22% of customers reported using calorie information when making their food choices after labelling was introduced, with awareness and use of the information higher among women, older adults and people in higher socioeconomic groups.
Lead researcher Dr Megan Polden said: “The introduction of mandatory calorie labelling alone was not associated with significant dietary changes in out-of-home food settings.”
Professor Eric Robinson said: “However, we know that many businesses have not been providing calorie labelling as recommended and some businesses have not provided any calorie labelling at all, which of course may explain our results.
“Our results may also indicate that a combination of strategies, such as improved business compliance measure, public education on calorie intake and clearer labelling, could be necessary to support healthier consumer choices.”
