ArticleBMJ open2024
Point-of-choice kilocalorie labelling practices in large, out-of-home food businesses: a preobservational versus post observational study of labelling practices following implementation of The Calorie Labelling (Out of Home Sector) (England) Regulations 2021.
Article in BMJ open, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed.
- Do calorie labels change energy purchased in a simulated online food delivery platform? A multi-arm randomised controlled trial.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2024Trial
- Compliance With England's Calorie Labeling Regulations 3 Years After Policy Implementation.Public health reports (Washington, D.C. : 1974) · 2026Article
- Changes in out-of-home food purchasing following the introduction of England's calorie labelling regulations: a population-level controlled interrupted time series analysis.BMJ public health · 2026Article
- Accuracy of menu calorie labelling in the England out-of-home food sector during 2024: assessment of a national food policy.The British journal of nutrition · 2025Article
- Assessing the impact of a mandatory calorie labelling policy in out-of-home food outlets in England on consumer behaviour: a natural experimental study.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Evaluating the association between the introduction of mandatory calorie labelling and energy consumed using observational data from the out-of-home food sector in England.Nature human behaviour · 2025Article
- Introducing calorie labels in restaurants in England did not change customer behaviour.Nature human behaviour · 2025Article
- Article
- Obesity and Lifestyle Drift: Framing Analysis of Calorie Menu Labelling in England in News Media.International journal of health policy and management · 2025Article
- Changes in energy content of menu items at out-of-home food outlets in England after calorie labelling policy implementation: a pre-post analysis (2021-2022).BMJ public health · 2025Article
- Calorie labelling and other drivers of takeaway food choices.BMJ nutrition, prevention & health · 2025Article
- Does menu calorie labelling cause or exacerbate eating disorders?International journal of obesity (2005) · 2024Review
- The impact of the English calorie labelling policy on the energy content of food offered and purchased in worksite cafeterias: a natural experiment.BMC nutrition · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND
objectivesOn 6 April 2022, the UK government implemented mandatory kilocalorie (kcal) labelling regulations for food and drink products sold in the out-of-home food sector (OHFS) in England. Previous assessments of kcal labelling practices in the UK OHFS found a low prevalence of voluntary implementation and poor compliance with labelling recommendations. This study aimed to examine changes in labelling practices preimplementation versus post implementation of mandatory labelling regulations in 2022.
methodsIn August-December 2021 (preimplementation) and August-November 2022 (post implementation), large OHFS businesses (250 or more employees) subject to labelling regulations were visited. At two time points, a researcher visited the same 117 food outlets (belonging to 90 unique businesses) across four local authorities in England. Outlets were rated for compliance with government regulations for whether kcal labelling was provided at any or all point of choice, provided for all eligible food and drink items, provided per portion for sharing items, if labelling was clear and legible and if kcal reference information was displayed.
resultsThere was a significant increase (21% preimplementation vs 80% post implementation, OR=40.98 (95% CI 8.08 to 207.74), p<0.001) in the proportion of outlets providing any kcal labelling at point-of-choice post implementation. Only 15% of outlets met all labelling compliance criteria post implementation, with a minority of outlets not presenting labelling in a clear (33%) or legible (29%) way.
conclusionThe number of large businesses in the OHFS providing kcal labelling increased following the implementation of mandatory labelling regulations. However, around one-fifth of eligible outlets sampled were not providing kcal labelling 4-8 months after the regulations came into force, and the majority of businesses only partially complied with government guidance. More effective enforcement may be required to further improve kcal labelling practices in the OHFS in England. PREREGISTRATION: Study protocol and analysis strategy preregistered on Open Science Framework (https://osf.io/pfnm6/).
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.