The easy way to find a restaurant,find dining offers,find an event,find inspiration,make a booking
Share

Fat Fighters

4 Apr 2011
Openings Uncategorised
So it's official. From September all dining establishments are 'on plan' to encourage the public to change their eating habits by declaring health information including calories per dish, ingredients and perhaps even fat content. All this will be appetisingly displayed on the menu, right next to your seared scallops (good) or your foie gras and sour cherry terrine (Hello? What were you thinking?). Of course, it's not legislation (yet) but the government and the NHS would like to achieve the changes without such action and apparently 85% of us are in agreement, according to the Food Standards Authority, in that restaurants should make clear what's in their food. It's all part of the swishy new 'public health responsibility deal', which in itself is no bad thing, but it sure ain't part of the Big Society, Dave. In fact, it rather smacks of nanny state-ism at its worst. If we can't be trusted to make 'healthier' choices when eating out, why then, we get smacked around the face with the information until we get the message – STEER CLEAR OF THE FRIED STUFF! Soon, no doubt there'll be sirens and police vans if someone orders chicken nuggets. It's a serious point that poor diets in this country cost the NHS £4.5 billion and at this point in time, we should all take responsibility for our own health. However, most of us have a reasonably varied diet and make equally varied choices on where to eat, from a snatched cheeseburger or pasty at lunch to spaghetti and side salad at dinner – it's a balancing act most of us manage. And yet apparently 91% felt that being informed of nutritional information on a menu would influence their choice of establishment. . .does anyone else feel we won't be saying sayonara to the fast food chains any time soon? As you might have guessed, chefs and independent restaurateurs are largely against it, perhaps because they feel their clientele are mostly right-thinking people with cash burning a hole in their pocket, and they think that the high street chains are where this information should be concentrated, particularly with regard to ingredient sourcing and fat content. But would it make you turn away from a favoured restaurant if you found out the calories were equal to the price? Can we be trusted? Will this make the slightest bit of difference to those who start the day with an Egg McMuffin and finish it with a garlic-butter-stuffed-crust pizza? Would you stop ordering your favourite dish if it was high in calories? Do you think, if you're paying for the food, you want to know what's in it down to the last shake of the pepper pot or are you happy to trust in the chef and expect to be able to buy and eat what you want without pressure?
Comments

Graham - March 21, 2011

I've just opened My Burrito - we put the calories (829) and fat content (from memory about 25g of which 12-13g is saturated fat).on the menu - if you are watching your wieght, drop the cheese, sour cream and go for a small burrito - around 700 calories. A regular burrito weighs around 525g. Can't claim any health benfits for churros - a fried doughnut is a fried doughnut - but pretty sure the hot chocolate you dip them in compensates for that!

Reply
Peter - March 14, 2011

I assume this means another government body will be set up to monitor it all ! ! !

Reply
www.chillerbox.com - March 10, 2011

As one of the UK's leading catering equipment suppliers, we've noticed the trend towards healthier cooking amongst our restaurant clients. We design commercial kitchens for pubs, restaurants, hotels and schools and find we are supplying more refrigeration equipment like display fridges and refrigerated prep counters used by chefs for preparing salads, vegetables and fresh fruit. In small sandwich bars for example, you could cash in on the trend and offer customers the healthy alternatives by investing in a juicing machine, smoothie maker or juice dispenser. Many restaurant kitchens are opting for large Blue Seal oven ranges, Lincat chargrills and Leventi combi steam ovens above traditional gas or electric fryers. Valera offer a "fat-free" regeneration fryer known as "Quik n'Crispy" which fries, grills and bakes food with no extraction fat or mess. We're always happy to speak to any budding restaurateurs and help guide you through the maze of catering equipment available. And for existing businesses who want to improve their menu or service offering to accommodate healthy eating - we can design, advise, plan and install your kitchen and equipment. Call for a free chat with a catering equipment expert 0800 849 1188

Reply
Pigsticker - March 4, 2011

Yes I know it's a bit nanny-statish but it would be of interest to me to see calories on menus. Just like some Indian restaurants put chillis to represent heat or wine lists have numbers to indicate how dry/sweet the wine is.

Reply