The point about eating disorders etc - how much of the population could do with knowing roughly how many calories that pizza is v people who want to know for tracking (weight loss, training, body building) v eating disorders.
Sometimes we don’t do things that benefit the majority for fear of upsetting the minority. But again it’s not a solution to anything or should create a problem - it’s a tool. Like blaming the hammer for the wonky shelf - the hammer is a tool.
And if you suggest this you are the baddie. I agree, I think we’ve gone too far the wrong way. Ok, be kind, don’t be a dick is fair enough but now you can say the most innocuous thing and be called out on it. People are too sensitive.
Actually with eating disorders, calories in menus is the least of the issue as might trigger their condition. The source of the condition might want to be looked at - and as a society we won’t because it’s a massive money industry: marketing and social media and the pursuit of looking like ads and influencers and making people feel insecure. (I did my dissertation on this in the late 90’s - just on marketing and magazines, it’s way worse now)
IMHO the investment should be made in education, you can inform the amount of calories in your menu/pizza/whatever, but if the person who reads it doesn’t understand what a calorie is, how your body use them (and in the end saves them for the hunger periods) and what is an empty (nutritionaly speaking) food this only will work for a small percentage of the people, and in most cases, people who already knew that eating a huge triple cheese pizza isn’t healthy…
Like @hunzas points, for me would be perfect, because it will save me the time to investigate or sometimes deduce how many calories did I just eat when going out for a burger, pizza or roasted chicken in a family weekend meal. But I think before give knowledge to the people, give them tools to work with it first.
So I guess this leads to a wider question of is calories on menus tackling a symptom or a cause?
Once you answer that, is it making a big difference to this symptom or cause?
I think it’s a good idea. I lost 3.5 stone a few years ago by working out how many calories I needed per day (1500 or ~2000 on training days) and adding up the calories in my food. It was a real eye opener weighing out some of my favourite meals and portion sizes and then working out the calories from the packaging. It’s no wonder some people don’t lose weight when they have no real clue what a calorie is or how many calories are in that plate of chips. I know some people will think it’s nanny state and if they are going out for a slap up meal they want to order what they want to order without how many thousands of calories it is being shoved in their face but they can easily just ignore it. It might help educate the weight watchers brigade as well who think food energy is measured in Syns 
On a broader societal level, but there are plenty of people that genuinely have no idea how they should eat, or indeed how to cook a decent meal.
No one wants to be morbidly obese, what other explanation is there except lack of understanding of how to eat?
And of course the main cause of obesity is eating too much of the wrong thing (or even some right things) rather than lack of exercise (which of course does contribute to an extent).
It is so easy to pick up cheap ready meals which have very little nutritional value, sling them in the microwave and eat them while watching TV.
I think ready meals are probably more of a cause of our nation’s poor health than restaurants. Poorer people can’t afford to eat out but they also believe they can’t afford good wholefoods, fruit and vegetables every day.
In reality a bag of rice, a bag of lentils, a few spices and some seasonal produce can go a long way. But you have to know how to cook them and flavour the food to taste good.
Unfortunately for some food like Huel is actually quite expensive.
As someone who’s worked with a lot of people with severe eating disorders this was my first thought. But at the same time it’s just not practical to build the world around peoples disordered thinking. Also if someone has an eating disorder centred around calories, they KNOW how many calories are in everything. I’ve seen people add up full plates of food themselves in seconds, it’s both impressive and troublesome.
I still kind of don’t like the idea of calories being shown everywhere, but I can’t put my finger on why. I guess I just don’t know that it helps. Usually for the people who want it, it’s available online somewhere anyway. The average person going out to eat is going out to enjoy themselves and eat good food that they wouldn’t eat at home, and freedom from worrying about nutrition and calories for a moment. Sticking the calories on the end is like the menu saying “but are you SURE you want this pizza…?”
I’m not sure that it really tackles obesity at all. As others have said, most people who are overweight know what they have to do to lose it. It’s more about time, money, motivation, and general well-being. It’s not really about having a higher calorie meal when you go out to a restaurant once in a while, and I also don’t think people should feel like they shouldn’t do that.
Same here. I value a lot to see the calories, but the average people wont notice anything.
People doesnt even know the basics, the calorie ditribution (4kcal per 1 gram of carb or protein and 9 kcal per gram or fat) + something with a higher calorie intake per 100gram is not bad because of that. In fact, most of the worst foods are the ones that are high in carbs and sugar, and they are around 350-500kcal
What I think that could be revolutionary and game changer is to have a mandatory net calory per food or packaging. So you would know that 1 kilo of legumes is 5000kcal and 1 pizza is 1500kcal
But its an step forward, and that is always good
This is a fair point @Tristan. I shared the image below a couple of years ago on this forum, it’s from a paper on the causes of obesity. There are so many factors that contribute and everyone that someone has suggested on this thread is part of that answer.
For sure. Also people could live in a “food desert” meaning they only have easy access to convenience stores where fresh fruit and vegetables are not cheap.
No that’s true, but it could act as a trigger. I guess it all depends on what stage a person is at in their recovery.
That could be a good idea. Maybe what we’ll see as a result of this change is smaller serving sizes to achieve lower calories. If Cadbury shrink creme eggs anymore there won’t be any space for the fondant!
you may be falling foul of the Wagon Wheel syndrome there 
I think restaurants should be required to provide calorie information on request, but not as standard. Personally, I don’t want to know and I don’t want to have to ask not to be told.
I am really interested in reading your opinions. I think it is particularly illuminating to hear from those of you who have used calorie counting to great effect on an individual level and think this will be helpful, because it would have been helpful to you when you tried to lose weight.
Although I’m not looking to lose weight, I occasionally check in on MFP to see what I’m eating and if I’m eating enough/too much (calories and protein usually is what I focus on). This will be very helpful from that perspective for me, and others in the same position.
I think accuracy will be an issue, like @himji says. I can imagine some experts working it out themselves vs what the menu says and calling out massive discrepancies. That would make me lose a bit of faith in it.
I disagree with you on what, this isn’t something that only involves the person on an individual level, this has to be seen as a public interest. If we make the analogy with tobacco use, I, as an ex-smoker didn’t want to see in the packs those black lungs or babies in a coffin, but the governments must let you know those facts not because they care about you as an individual (I wish they would), or even ask you if you want to see what are the consequences of being an active smoker. Lung cancer, infertility and childhood mortality derived from tobacco use are big issues not only for them but for you too, in the sense that your paid taxes money has been used in healthcare treatments for cancer instead of wellbeing, education or infrastructure improvements, as (an optimistic) example.
Obesity and Diabetes are already an epidemic, I’m not a doctor but a Data analyst, and I understand trends and forecasting, and if we, as a society, don’t catch the obesity problem now, it will become a problem that we won’t be able to handle. So, as I’ve said before in my opinion isn’t the best of the actions that can be made, but is a (tiny) step forward.
Sadly here in Spain, as far as I’m informed no measures besides the Nutriscore has been implemented.
I think it’s unfair to think that all people that are morbidly obese lack the knowledge on how they should be eating or how to cook a decent meal.
There are so many reasons why people eat more of than they shouldn’t.
Peer pressure from families, depression, anxiety, lack of time, lack of enough motivation, being priced out of a lot of the healthier alternatives to name but a few.
Yes there are those that could do with more education too
Probably @himji. I think I’ll always over simplify it because it’s never been an issue that my family or friends have faced. I can always remember being active, having sensible portions, knowing what was in what I was eating and why fizzy pop and crisps weren’t for every day etc etc. It’s something I’ve carried on with my children and even at 8 and 9 years old they impress me with their food choices.
I haven’t (and wouldn’t) fat shame any one and I do believe everyone should be able to feel confident about their appearance. But at the same time I honestly just can’t get my head around how anyone can get to a point they’re considered morbidly obese.
100% this. The mental arithmetic you have to go through to work out what is in a pack of something is ridiculous. But basing it on portions lets them be opaque about it. I refuse to accept that anyone eats 33g of cereal in the morning, or 7 smarties, a third of a bag of minstrels etc.
Yes, sometimes it’s hard to see as it seems so simple. Eat more, you put on weight, eat less you put on less or drop weight.
And very true that often the value we bring from our parents will play into what we bring into our view of food
Absolutely agree that obesity is a problem and needs to be addressed, but this is very different to tobacco packaging in that diners can opt out. If I was smoking Marlboro I’d always request the stylish red pack, and not the one with photos of diseased lungs. We can easily opt out of calorie counted menus, so it’s not really analogous, though it’s tedious and seems silly to have to go to the trouble.
I have doubts that this will have a big impact on rates of obesity. They’ve had compulsory calorie counts on menus in New York since 2008 and no improvements. Plus who pays for the bureaucracy, the ongoing inspections? The taxpayer? Or the restaurants (who’ll pass the cost on to the customers)? How is this going to be regulated and overseen with regular periodic checks going forward year on year: every new qualifying business, every new menu item? It’s an additional expense and a regulatory burden, and whilst implementation is compulsory for the businesses its effect is merely optional for the customers. Easy to imagine a lot of misinformation creeping in.
Seems to me like a simple headline-grabber by ministers looking for an easy win, and an awkward policy for the opposition to resist.
As a recovered anorexic, no, it’s a bad thing. Aside from that, I’m struggling to understand how this it is supposed to tackle obesity. As a friend of mine pointed out, poverty is the root cause of obesity not dining out.
