Restaurants, cafes and pubs will be forced to put calorie counts for the food they serve on menus under government plans revealed in the Queen’s Speech. The new laws will make it compulsory for hospitality businesses with more than 250 employees to calorie label food in a bid to tackle obesity. It risks a backlash from the sector which has been one of the hardest hit by forced closures during the coronavirus pandemic, although the government has ditched plans to include drink like pints of beer in pubs. Boris Johnson’s wide-ranging legislative agenda for the new parliament promises to come forward with proposals for reforming social care this year. Commenting on the plans for calorie counts, Nicholls said: “Hospitality businesses share the government’s objectives in tackling obesity and improving public health, but at a time of huge economic uncertainty these new rules must strike a balance and be proportionate,” she said.

Source: Huffington Post May 11, 2021 10:47 UTC