Provision of calorie and nutrition information by branded out of home businesses in Scotland.

Summary

This project explored the provision of nutrition information provided by branded out of home businesses in 2021, including information provided online and within premises. The project also analysed the reported calorie contents of food and drink items available from these businesses. Data collection took place between May and June 2021.

This work was carried out by PhD student, Catherine Friel whilst undertaking a 3 month internship with Food Standards Scotland, organised by the Scottish Graduate School of Social Science (SGSSS).

Key findings

• Of the 81 branded out of home businesses surveyed, 64% provided nutritional information online. All of these businesses provided calorie information, with 92% also providing information on fat, saturated fat, sugars, protein, and salt.
• There were differences in how the  information was presented by businesses on their websites, with some providing a separate PDF or by displaying within the online menu.
• There were also differences in how meals were described online, with some displaying information for whole dishes and others by meal component.
• Analysis of calorie information provided by businesses showed considerable variation in the calorie content of main meals. 32% of the main meals analysed were above 1000 kcal, and 30% below 600 kcal.
• Calorie contents of similar dishes was highly variable. For example, the calorie content of burger meals ranged from 250 kcal to 2577 kcal while the calorie content of salad dishes ranged from 172 kcal to 1376 kcal.
• ‘Food challenges’ had the highest caloric value of any meals analysed with one containing 5070 kcal.
• 14 businesses also participated  in an online survey, of which around half reported that they provided calorie and/or nutrition information for the majority of their menu items.