Food education and calories on Menu

Provision of nutritional information of food products offered in restaurants and food outlets is one of the mechanisms that have been used worldwide to sensitize consumers in making good choices of the foods they consume to address the food-related diseases like obesity. In Northern Ireland, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) in 2002 outlined and actualized various initiatives whose aim was to educate the people in general about healthy foods to enable them to settle on informed decisions in connection to the food choices. The initiatives included the eat well plate which presented visual presentations that were meant to make people understand different types of proportions found in a certain food, the Front of Pack nutrition labeling (FOP) which provided the nutritional content of packaged food among others.

Advertising to children was also another initiative that was adopted to change the way food was promoted to children and help them make informed decisions on the difference between healthy and unhealthy foods. Booklets which outlined the proper hygiene to be observed in kitchens and the preparation were also made available to the public. The businesses have a responsibility of promoting the health of the public through altering their menus to incorporate calorie information and provide consumers with of healthier food choices. To remain competitive in the market and meet customer demands; businesses have to ensure that calorie information is provided. In the promotion of future calorie display among businesses in the United Kingdom, the different interests and priorities of key stakeholders should be considered the menu should have convincing messages which can prompt attitude change of the customer According to Clegg et al.

, 2009, in research that they carried after the pilot scheme, it was found that participating restaurants were very comfortable and they were positive about the initiative. Many of the businesses which took part in the pilot scheme were big businesses and had standardized menus which already contained the calorie information that was needed. , in the year 2011, there were significant changes in consumer purchasing behavior a month later after the legislation was done. In another study conducted by Dumanovsky et al. , 2011there was a significant decrease in the calories purchased n three local restaurants after the legislation was done. 15% of consumers were using the calorie information in New York city with the old and women registering a big number(Dumanovsky et al. According to Bollinger et al.

This makes them considerate on how long the food would take to be prepared as give less preference to the calorie content in the food. Some workers especially those who receive lower salaries do not pay attention to the calorie information but rather focus on the price of the food. The display of the food calories on the menu also affects consumer choices. Mostly used display methods include counter menus, separate calorie wise menus, individual tickets near the food, and table talkers among others. Conclusion For a successful rollout of the display of calorie information the UK, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) should provide clear guidelines and protocol that should be followed by businesses that take part in calorie display.  American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 3(1), 91-128.