A public consultation on the idea of mandatory calorie counts on menus has been launched by the Scottish government.

This news follows the new regulations that came into force in England on Tuesday 5th April.

Under new rules, restaurants, cafes and takeaways with more than 250 staff are now required to display the calorie information of non-prepacked food and soft drinks.

According to a statement by the government, the new legislation aims to tackle obesity by helping the public “make informed, healthier decisions”.

High Street chains such as Wetherspoons and McDonald’s already publish information about the calorie content of their food on their menus.

Some restaurants fear it will increase their costs, whilst eating disorder charity BEAT condemned the move, saying that “calorie counts on menus won’t prevent obesity, but they will harm people with eating disorders.”

The consultation

The 12-week Scottish government consultation seeks views on the types of food and drink that would be covered by any changes and the types of businesses which would take part in the initiative.

Public Health Minister Maree Todd said the consultation would inform whether a new law is introduced to make it a legal requirement for calories to be included on menus.

She said: “Two-thirds of the population living in Scotland is recorded as living with overweight or obesity – a key factor in our plan to address this is calorie labelling.

“We know that giving people more information, such as the number of calories in meals, will enable people to make healthier choices when eating out or ordering in.

“This is not novel practice – calories are already required on retail food purchases and calorie labelling for out-of-home sites is mandated in many other countries.”