Restaurant Association blasts calorie labels plan
Plans to make restaurants list the calorie and fat content of all meals on their menus have been slammed as "totally unnecessary" and a "knee-jerk reaction" by the Restaurant Association.
The scheme has been proposed by the UK Food Standards Agency (FSA).
<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /?>
David Harrold, director of the Restaurant Association, said: "This latest proposed regulation from the FSA is totally unnecessary. The way the increased regulations are going will only serve to completely take away all the enjoyment of dining out."
He added: "A chef is concerned with preparing high-quality dishes for customers and has no time to measure every calorie or gram of fat in each menu item.
"The majority of the dining-out public know what they should or should not eat in order to maintain a healthy lifestyle and the last thing restaurateurs need is further unnecessary red-tape."
If the new plan is approved by the EU Labelling Review Steering Group and introduced across the EU as law, it would mean every restaurant, hotel, café and fast-food-outlet may have to list calories, fat and additive content alongside the prices of the meals and drinks.