Calorie labelling in the out of home sector: consultation analysis

1. Introduction and background

In Spring 2022, the Scottish Government undertook a public consultation, Mandatory Calorie Labelling in the Out of Home Sector in Scotland,^[1] to gather views on its proposals to make the provision of calorie information mandatory at the point of choice in Out of Home (OOH) settings. The consultation ran from 8 April 2022 until 1 July 2022. This report presents findings from an independent analysis of the responses.

Policy Context

The consultation fulfils a pledge by Scottish Government made in the 2021 Out of Home Action Plan.^[2] That plan builds on commitments made in the 2018 Diet and Healthy Weight Delivery Plan,^[3] and recommendations made by Food Standards Scotland (FSS) to Scottish Ministers in 2019.^[4]

Eating OOH has been associated with obesity and there is evidence that food obtained from fast-food outlets,^[5] or takeaways is associated with higher calorie intakes.^[6] Available data shows that the food we eat OOH contains more calories per 100g than the food we eat within the home (205 kcals per 100g versus 169 kcal per 100g).

Mandating calorie labelling at the point of choice is one potential way to support the OOH sector to make a key contribution in improving Scotland's dietary health.

For the purposes of the proposal, the OOH sector is defined as including:

• Cafes, all types of restaurants, takeaways, pubs/bars, bakeries, sweet and dessert shops, vending machines, workplace canteens, hotels, mobile caterers, leisure and entertainment venues;
• Supermarkets, delicatessens and convenience stores who provide "food on the go";
• Places where we purchase food and non-alcoholic drinks when commuting or travelling;
• Manufacturers and suppliers of food to the OOH sector;
• Food delivery services, including online services;
• OOH businesses in the public sector, including food provided for staff and visitors in prisons, military settings, and adult care and health care settings; and
• Any other venue or outlet that sells non-prepacked food ready for immediate consumption.

Pre-packed food is not within the scope of the proposals as there are already requirements to provide nutrition information for pre-packed foods.

The proposals do not include schools or early learning and childcare settings. Meals served for those residing in prisons, military settings, adult care settings and for patients in hospital are considered and the consultation sought views on these.

Public sector organisations are considered within scope, however, the consultation sought views on where the introduction of the requirement may be challenging in the public sector.

An exemption for OOH provided by a charity in the course of its charitable activities is also being considered by Scottish Government.

There are around 41,000 outlets in Scotland that fall within the Out of Home definition set out above. In 2019, 98% of the population living in Scotland purchased food and drink OOH at some point, with the average person in Scotland visiting a OOH food provider four times per week.^[7]

The consultation

The consultation papers set out proposals for the provision of mandatory calorie labelling in the OOH sector in Scotland and also some proposed exemptions.

Specifically the consultation sought views on whether the provision of calorie information in OOH settings at the point of choice should be mandatory. In addition to this, views were sought on:

• the manner in which calorie information would be presented so that it is easily and equitably accessible and understood
• the advice and guidance that OOH businesses may require to ensure that there is parity in provision of calorie information across the sector
• identifying any unintended consequences and impact on health and other inequalities that may arise from mandating calorie information at the point of choice in OOH settings and measures potentially required to mitigate the unintended consequences and impacts
• whether there should be any exemptions to the application of requirements for the provision of calorie information in OOH settings

The consultation contained 22 questions -12 open and 10 closed questions with space to provide further comments. The questions covered the following:

• Implementing mandatory calorie labelling (Q1-2)
• Application of mandatory calorie labelling (Q3-4)
• Types of food and drink and possible exemptions (Q5-8)
• How and where information is displayed (Q9-12)
• Costs to business (Q13)
• Timescale and Support for Implementation (Q14 and Q15)
• Enforcement (Q16-17)
• Impact Assessments (Q18-21)
• Additional Comments (Q22)

Annex 1 contains a complete list of the consultation questions.

Aim of this report

This report presents a robust analysis of the material submitted in response to the consultation. The structure of the report follows the structure of the consultation paper and considers the response to each consultation question in turn.

Annexes 1-3 provide further detail about the consultation questions, the responses, the respondents, and the views expressed.

Approach to the analysis

The analysis sought to identify the most common themes and issues that arose. The report does not report on every single point raised in the consultation responses. All responses, where the respondent gave permission for their comments to be published are available on the Citizen Space website.^[8]

Some respondents made comments in relation to a question without ticking a response at the relevant closed question. If the respondent's reply to the closed question could be inferred from their written comments (for example, if their comments began with the words 'yes' or 'no', or if their comments clearly indicated that they agreed or disagreed with a certain proposal), analysts replaced the missing data for the tick-box question with the implied response - i.e. the response was imputed.

There was not always a straightforward relationship between respondents' choice of answer to the closed questions and their comments in the accompanying qualitative comments. Upon further examination of the qualitative comments, it was clear that, in many cases, respondents (especially individual respondents) ticked 'no' to closed questions throughout in order to re-emphasise their opposition to the policy as a whole. Where this is evident this is commented on throughout the report.

Comments made in response to each question were analysed qualitatively. Counts of the number of responses to the qualitative comments in relation to each question are presented throughout the report. The aim was to identify the main themes and the range of views expressed in relation to each question and highlight clear differences by respondent type where this was applicable.

Equal weighting was given to all responses. This included the full spectrum of views, from large organisations with a national or UK remit or membership, to individuals' viewpoints.

This analysis report quotes and paraphrases some of the comments received in order to illustrate key points and themes. However, this should not be taken as an indication that these comments will be acted upon or given greater credence than others in taking the policy proposals forward.

Comment on the generalisability of the consultation findings

As with all consultations, the views submitted to this consultation should not be considered as representative of the views of the wider public. Anyone can submit their views to a consultation, and individuals (and organisations) who have a keen interest in a topic - and the capacity to respond - are more likely to participate in a consultation than those who do not. This self-selection means that the views of consultation participants cannot be generalised to the wider population. For this reason, the main focus in analysing consultation responses is not to identify how many people held particular views, but rather to understand the range of views expressed and the reasons for these views.