McDonald’s UK has announced it will introduce calorie information on its menu boards as part of the Government’s “Responsibility Deal”.
As of this September, all 1,200 McDonald's UK restaurants will display the calorie content of all menu items displayed on menu boards.
From September, the chain will also update the design of nutrition information on packaging and trayliners to align them with the commonly-used lozenge-style calorie labels that will appear on menu boards.
The introduction of this information in UK restaurants follows extensive research by the company. The research included in-restaurant trials, more than 2,000 customer interviews and "eye-tracking technology" to understand how people absorb menu information.
The research found 80%of customers think all companies should display "simple, visible calorie information", although only 17% said calories on boards would make them think more about what they are eating.
The study also found that more than a third of people (35%) already regularly read the nutritional information on food packaging and around the same number (34%) are aware of their daily calorie intake.
Jill McDonald, chief executive of McDonald's UK & Northern Europe, said: "Displaying calories on menus supports the principles we've always believed are important: giving our customers clear information to make informed choices; providing a balanced menu by offering choice and reformulating our recipes; and responding to what our customers want.
"We've tested menu board labelling in 125 restaurants and the results show it's a move that some of our customers would value. As a result we'll be displaying them across our 1,200 restaurants from September."
Around 150 companies have signed up to the Government's responsibility deal on public health, with pledges including warnings on alcohol and cuts to unhealthy salt and fat in food.
Health Secretary Andrew Lansley hopes the new responsibility deal will improve public health while avoiding regulation for food companies and the alcohol industry.
