With the NHS under enormous strain following the Covid pandemic and the resulting backlog of cases, you could be forgiven for thinking that hospital food is not one of its main priorities. But, it certainly should be. When people are in hospital, they need the right and balanced nutrition in order for them to have the best chance of recovery.
From the 6th of April 2022, the new calorie labelling legislation will come into effect in England. Large food businesses with more than 250 employees (such as contract caterers and franchises) will have to provide calories information to their diners across restaurants, pubs, events, takeaway services etc. The legislation will be reviewed after five years, however in the meantime voluntary disclosure of calorie information is strongly recommended for smaller operators too. With more digitisation of food data and the increased use of technology, Kafoodle is well placed to provide the necessary calorie labelling solutions for your food business so that you can be well prepared in time for the legislation in just about three months.
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You should start with a plan and identify gaps that will need to be addressed to get your business ready in time. To help with your planning, Kafoodle – an innovator in recipe and menu management technology - has highlighted 10 key questions you should ask to determine if your food business is ready.
Are you prepared? Take our quick test.
Suppliers and Ingredients Datasets
1. Who are my suppliers?
2. Can I source ingredient information in a digital format?
3. Does the supplier dataset provide complete calorific/nutritional information of ingredients?
Recipes and Calorie Calculation
4. Are all my recipes clearly documented?
5. Is there a robust process flow to use/update ingredient information in my recipes?
6. Do my existing tools enable the use of information in deriving calorific values of recipes?
Tools (Including Software)
7. If not, do I need to upgrade my toolkit? What technology solutions are out there that can help?
8. Do I have capability to adopt my menu design to display calories in digital and print formats?
Staff and Customers
9. What training support will my staff need to implement the changes?
10. What opportunities are there to better understand and provide for my customers’ needs?
Where do you start?
To begin with, a whiteboard exercise to identify gaps will help a business chart out a clear plan of action. Depending on the complexity and scale of business operations, owners/managers may need to collaborate with external consultants or identify champions internally for the implementation of any changes. If the current processes and tools are found to be adequate, then only small changes should be needed. However, in the case of large data/process gaps, an early detection and redressal in tandem with suppliers should be sought.
Once followed through, business operators should be ready and compliant with the legislation by April 2022. With these changes, diners will be equipped to make informed choices while food businesses will be better placed to understand customer preferences and reformulate dishes as necessary. No doubt, a win-win for all.
You can also contact us directly if you’re interested in using our calorie analysis tools to help your business implement an end-to-end calorie labelling solution.
Find out how we can help you get ready for the Calorie Labelling Legislation
Complete the enquiry form and we will get in touch with how we can help you get ready for the upcoming regulations.
Free Webinar: Watch our 60 min webinar with industry experts here.
Free Guide: Download our industry guide here.
Further information & training
Please see the following website for official information.
Department of Health & Social Care Guidelines