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Argument: Large majorities of citizens want calorie counts on menus

Issue Report: Mandatory calorie counts on menus

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Steve Chapman. “Force-fed the facts”. Reason. June 23, 2008: “A survey by the agency of more than 2,000 adults last summer suggested 85% of consumers agreed restaurants, pubs and cafes had a responsibility to make clear what was in the food they served, and later research showed people wanted clear, simple information at the point of sale. The agency expects consumer demand to force all food outlets from the very small to the very expensive to give calorie information.”

Jeff Alder of Consumer Focus, the government-funded watchdog, said in January of 2009: “This is a really good first move by the FSA. We know that people want nutritional information before they order meals and there is very little help on menus for them at the moment. Calories labelling is one way for people to compare the relative healthiness of meal options at a glance so we hope businesses will be rushing to adopt it.”[1]