A new survey has claimed that a third of diners do not want calorie information printed on menus in pubs and restaurants.
The study by www.MyVoucherCodes.co.uk said that of those 32% who did not want calorie information 44% had claimed such detail would “ruin” their experience.
The survey of 1,009 people found that one in five of the third who did not want information explained that they would rather not know to avoid feeling ‘guilty.’
When asked, “Do you want restaurants to display the calorie information of meals on the menu?” just 27% of respondents answered “yes.” 32% stated “no,” whilst the remaining 41% stated they were “unsure.”
Of those who were “unsure;” the majority, 64%, explained that it would “depend on the restaurant and meal type.”
Mark Pearson, chairman of MyVoucherCodes.co.uk, said: “Following the recent call from the Health Secretary for restaurants to be more transparent in the display of calorific information on their menus, we decided to delve more into what the public would think about this.
“What we found, most notably, was the amount of people who were against the idea; claiming that it would ‘ruin’ their restaurant experience should they be faced with basing their meal decision on nutritional content.
“Although restaurants do have a responsibility to provide customers with the nutritional content of what they are eating; responsibility also has to be in the hands of the customers to make an informed meal decision.
“Restaurants should perhaps produce leaflets stating the nutritional content of their meals, available at the customer’s discretion, rather than putting it on the menu. This would avoid difficulties with those who do not want to know, but nevertheless give the option to those wanting to find out more.”
