Restaurant and Supermarket Meals Could Face Calorie Limits
In the News
Calories in food sold at restaurants and in supermarkets may be capped if current consultation documents are approved.
https://news.sky.com/story/calorie-limits-for-restaurant-and-supermarket-meals-11591442
I wanted to post this after reading that some people were prevented from choosing the meal they wanted (When swapping one item for another) in a cafe.
So we are about to get the calorie police... How absurd is this?
I feel like something does need to be done to help tackle obesity however Iโm not sure if this is the solution. The article states the proposed calorie cap on chips is 416? So that just means smaller portions - in that case id just order 2 portions 
I think that as usual they are targeting everybody to solve a problem that only applies to a proportion of the population. It would also be a retrograde step because, like you, I would just order more smaller dishes or boycott certain eateries! They can't earn money if people won't go there. 
So much food is calorific not because of the quantity but because so much sugar and fat is added to enhance flavour. If fat and sugar was taxed much more and protein and high fibre carbs were not taxed perhaps more dishes would be healthy. Need to have more frozen food as you don't have to fill such food with preservatives as the freezing process preserves the food on its own to a degree.
At the moment if you go in a restaurant and they do different size meals you often find the small portion may only be half as much but 70% of the cost of the full portion perhaps small portions should work out cheaper I.e. currently full portion is ยฃ8 and half size portion is ยฃ5.50 perhaps its should be ยฃ4 half portion, full portion ยฃ9. That would motivate people to go for small portions because of greater value. If its really not enough they can order another half portion.
The Japanese do a thing in supermarkets where the first two you buy of an item can be discounted but if you buy more than that it resorts to a higher price. This could be done in this country to limit people's purchasing of stupid unhealthy items. I.e. first cake half price and any further purchases of the same item full price etc.
I think that people need to take responsibility for their own actions. If you are overweight then it usually follows that you eat too much. These people need to stop blaming others for their own inability to control themselves. Just say no, that was lovely but I've had enough thanks! Why should everyone else have their calories counted because of others. Going out for a meal is a rare treat and having restrictions placed on your menu choices is unreasonable.
tumblespots I can't disagree with your points in principle but the quality of food has reduced in nutrition and its calorie content has increased. Is there no responsibility on food companies to make a healthy product? Besides I think you have to be pro-active when there is a problem. Lots of people don't have self-control in different areas of their life, it could be food, it could be alcohol, gambling etc. Clearly pretty much every country tries to create policies that reduce the problems caused by these and different countries have a different set of problems. The UK has an obesity problem and it has to be tackled.
BonzoBanana I just get fed up of having my fun curtailed (when it is in short supply anyway) by people who can't control themselves. Going out for a meal is rare and I don't want to be forced to have 'lettuce a la lettuce' because of others, because then my treat isn't even worth having.
tumblespots I doubt there will ever be a restaurant where you are wrestled to the ground as soon as you enter the building and force fed lettuce. There are lots of ways to encourage reduced calories but they still won't stop people having what they want. I'm not a smoker but I see people in shops buying cigarettes and you see the shop assistant slide back the door to reveal a load of small unappealing boxes. That person still enjoys their cigarettes but the product is not marketed at all. Alcohol is completely different it is aggressively marketed and beautifully presented. Perhaps down the line alcohol and high sugar foods will have limited marketing and plain presentation. So that only healthy food gets to have appealing packaging.
I think much of the effort is trying to create good habits in the young which they will maintain throughout life. When you see mcdonalds burgers that are so sterile that they can last 20 years without decomposing you realise commercial profits have taken over from safe healthy food.
BonzoBanana Profit/money is king and always will be.
When I worked in a school there was no cooking at all so perhaps they ought to consider putting ovens back into schools and teaching people how to cook, then they wouldn't rely on takeaways and eating out so much!
Sugar tax has not done anything so Jamie Oliver has just made us pay more its all the same now we have more PC nonsense - people are people they have to do it themselves but this is all just more nanny state nonsense - in Eastern Europe we dont have these issues its all down to people and if they are going to be lazy, gluttinous, feckless and not proper parents then that is their fault - why does everyone else have to pay for the idiots in society who have no self control!
I agree with you, we are all paying now for the fault of those you can't/won't stop overeating. It's also a money spinner for the government - another way to tax us, fats will be next. It won't be worth living soon...
tumblespots Yeah life without "full fat" Vanilla Coke is almost too hard to bear and at ยฃ20 for a box of 10 from America it has made life almost unbearably expensive lol
Who would have thought in the last years of the 21st century that we would be paying ยฃ2 for a can of coke from America or ยฃ2 for a bottle of ripoff Irn Bru that used to cost 75p!
Madness.,
Jamie Oliver needs a good slap upside the head!!!
I bet his kids arent drinking artificial cancer causing sweetener loaded fizzy drinks!
At the end of the day, no matter what our diets are like we are all going to die of something eventually.
In the meantime, just have a well balanced diet.
They have done it with smoking because of health concerns more tax stop selling certain types in may. and drugs that cause health problems. So maybe they should do it with food as well more people these days are obese than ever before which is causing a lot of health problems like smoking and drugs and cost the nhs more money. so to deal with the problem first will be cheaper than after. They arenโt doing it to health fresh fruit and veg and meat just pre made process food. and if people are concerned about the calories being less they could sprinkle sugar on their ready meals instead like they do cereal.
tumblespots incase you do end up fat. It can prevent you from getting fat. Just because you arenโt now doesnโt mean to say you wonโt be in the future? And for things you can see like cholesterol and diabetes
Faye1 I do think that the government is taking all this PC stuff too seriously they are ruling our lives in ways that they shouldn't.
As if the so called health experts and the government really care about obesity and our health. It's all about money and more money.
If anything, the government could do with losing a few pounds himself.
RegularComper90 You are right, if they can think of another way to tax us then they will. Sugar tax, fat tax etc... and I'm sure they have a few more up their sleeve as well.
tumblespots Yeah its all tax raising and they know it but most of the sheep populace will just lap it up!
There are so many foods that are crazy high in calories, and something certainly needs to be done about that. But if I want to order a massive unhealthy treat at a restaurant, I should be able to.
Absolutely, going out for a meal is a treat for me and I want to be able to order whatever I want too.
This would likely be unworkable. Besides, it would probably encourage people to eat even more junk if they are still hungry after a meal. Let them/me eat cake (... and onion bhajis) 
They could go for a meal somewhere and then go for another meal straight afterwards somewhere else.
tumblespots never liked the idea of pub crawls, but could get on board with restaurants crawls...
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