2nd April 2012
As Compass, the food supplier, becomes the latest member of the industry to sign up to the Responsibility Deal, we ask whether it is up to the food business to watch what the country eats or the consumer. There are several schools of thought on this one and as the UK undergoes an epidemic of obesity, can people be trusted to choose for themselves? Or should companies cut the number of calories in their food because the UK population must be protected by the suppliers? The government believes it should be a collaborative approach and claims that the Responsibility Deal is the industry's way of doing its bit. Andrew Lansley, secretary of state for health, said: "Public health is everyone's responsibility and there is a role for all of us, working in partnership, to tackle these challenges." By signing the pledge companies are agreeing to abide by a number of principles including reducing the salt and calories in their food. Compass has said it will reduce the calories in 5,000 of its recipes by ten per cent, which could have a big impact as it is the largest foodservice provider in the UK. This could cut obesity, but what about those people who are not overweight and eat out as a treat? Should they be forced to have reduced calorie food because the state is trying to protect those who don't make healthy choices for themselves? Another part of the pledge ensures accurate food labelling with calories made clear to the purchaser. This is often seen on food packets, but how would people feel about it being printed on menus? Surely this is a way to provide consumers with the resources to make their own informed decisions. Here at Mystery Dining we decided to find out what the general consensus is about calorie information on menus and did a bit of research. It seems that people are becoming more aware of the issue as three quarters of those surveyed said they pay more attention to calorie information now than they did five years ago. Interestingly 63 per cent said that they look at the calorie information on products which they buy and eat at home, showing that when it is provided people use it. Overall 71 per cent of people backed the idea that calorie information should be provided on menus so that they could decide for themselves. When it is laid out in black and white on a menu will people shy away from more calorific food and would it become less popular with the general public? Or will people think about the other things they have eaten that day and decide whether it is appropriate to have a treat or choose a different option? It will also present quite a task for food companies in order to recreate some of their most popular products with fewer calories and less salt, but maintain their flavour. Ian Sarson, group managing director for the Compass Group , said: "Adopting this new pledge will be a significant challenge for our business given the thousands of recipes we will be reformulating but we believe it is the right thing to do in order to give our customers a healthy and informed choice."
