Putting calories on menus in Ireland: what consumers want

Abstract

determine, through national consultation, consumers’ views on calorie menu labelling in Ireland. Information on the obesity epidemic in Ireland, calorie menu labelling in other countries and what consumers could expect should this be implemented in Ireland was provided on the Food Safety Authority of Ireland website. Submissions from the public via a short on-line Consumer Survey, accessible for four weeks, were invited by press release. Quantitative and qualitative information collected included submitters’ background, their views on calorie menu labelling ‐ whether this should be implemented and in which food outlets ‐ and whether this should be mandatory for large food businesses (defined by number of outlets). Submitters were asked if they would trust the calorie information. Data was analysed using c 2 to test for differences according to submitters’ background.