CALORIE counts on menus are proving to be an acquired taste for Irish consumers, with some left more sour than sweet by takeaways that opt to provide the nutritional data.
Camile, a Thai food chain with nine restaurants in Dublin, is offering a “lighter options” range which promises meals you can enjoy “without overloading on the calories”.
The takeout menu displays six dishes under 600 calories, including beef, chicken and prawn dishes. However, the meals come with a caveat: in order to keep under the 600-calorie limit, customers must consume only two-thirds of the food.
Suzanne Lindsay, a Camile customer from Ashtown, believes it is “misleading” to display calorie counts for a fraction of a dish.
“They should provide the calorie count for the portion size they are selling,” she said.
Advertisement
“I shouldn’t have to take my calculator out before ordering my dinner but I did precisely that and the Chu Chee chicken curry [one of the six options] works out at 771 calories instead of 514 [the calorie count on menu].
“That’s around the same as the calories in a Big Mac and fries, which is disappointing. It’s putting the onus on the consumer to eat a smaller portion.”
Earlier this month, the Food Safety Authority of Ireland launched a public consultation process on calorie counting. It is open to public and food industry submissions until the end of this month.
The Department of Health plans to make it mandatory for all food menus to display details on calories. The Restaurants Association of Ireland has claimed the legislation is unfair and will place costs of up to €5,000 on each outlet.
Brody Sweeney, the owner of Camile, accepted the display of calories on lighter dishes could be made clearer but said that there was no intention to mislead customers.
Advertisement
“We brought the menu out in May or June and it’s our first with a calorie count,” he said. “I would accept completely that we could make a better job of highlighting that menu and its design, and put the line about two-thirds of the cup at the top. But on our online menu we do state the calories are a portion size that is two-thirds of the meal.
“We say to people you can eat it sensibly but just don’t eat the whole thing.”
Sweeney said he was aware that “an ever increasing amount of our customers want to be informed of the nutritional content of their meals”. To do this, lighter options were calculated according to recommended portion sizes, rather than the amount delivered in each take-out container.
“We have asked female customers what amount of calories they would be comfortable eating if they were on a diet, and the answer is usually between 500 and 600,” he said. “Because of our 60% female customer base, we’re trying to tailor our menus to what this predominant group would like.
“We don’t have the operational capacity to offer two-sized cups for single portions, and we know unfortunately that it would be commercial suicide to reduce the size of our single-portion cups.”
Advertisement
Saba to Go, a Thai and Vietnamese takeaway in Rathmines, Dublin, also puts some calorie counts on its food. These include a Saba Light Range, comprising dishes that claim to be 400 calories. These can be ordered in a medium or large size from the eatery’s website. The restaurant said that a nutritionist helped calculate the calorie content of the meals.
“The Saba Light represents a medium-sized dish,” said a spokesman. “The dishes available in a larger portion option do not fall under the Saba Light tag. Rice and sides are all calculated separately from the main dishes.”
Niamh O’Connor, a consultant dietician and nutritionist in Cork, said her company had helped several takeaways put calorie counts on menus, including Camile.
“Regarding its ranges of meals ‘6 under 600’, Camile has recommended that two-thirds of the serving is the appropriate portion for customers who have requested this range,” she said.
“It would not be financially viable for any food business to produce two serving sizes for every dish just to get the calories down.
Advertisement
“Instead, Camile has been fully transparent and enlisted me to work with the chefs to carry out accurate analysis of the entire menu.”