The accuracy of calorific values used for restaurant meals has been called into question after an investigation found dishes containing more than double the stated calories.
The Sunday Times ordered takeaway meals from ten popular UK restaurant chains, including Pizza Express, Leon and Côte, and sent them to the University of Greenwich’s food-testing laboratory in Kent for analysis.
Out of 20 samples of food, only half fell within the 20% accepted margin of difference allowed by government regulations between the actual and declared calories. Five dishes were significantly higher and five were significantly lower than the amounts stated.
Nachos with guacamole, sour cream and salsa from the Mexican chain Las Iguanas were found to contain 1,156 kcal, compared with the 576 kcal stated on the menu. The restaurant attributed the discrepancy to an unusually large portion size.
A roomali roti from the Indian chain Dishoom came in at 727 kcal instead of the declared 236 kcal which was attributed by Dishoom to variation in portioning.
Conversely, pork belly from Côte was found to contain 449 fewer calories (36% less) than on the menu. Côte told the paper it had rechecked the pork belly and that it fell within the 20% margin.
Calorie labelling legislation has been a requirement on menus since April last year for businesses with more than 250 employees.
Restaurants typically pay for third-party software which calculates the calories in their dishes by adding together the calorific values of each ingredient, however experts said systems lacked accuracy.
“The current system utilised by most restaurants for determining the nutritional content of their dishes has several limitations,” Nazanin Zand, associate professor in food and nutrition in the Faculty of Engineering and Science at Greenwich University told the paper.
She advised consumers to use the nutritional information declared on the menu as a guide and rough estimate rather than an absolute value.
