Calorie labelling on menus: the UK rules for restaurants, cafés and takeaways

Calorie labelling on menus is a legal requirement only in England, and only for food businesses with 250 or more employees. Since 6 April 2022, these businesses must show the kcal per portion of non-prepacked food and soft drinks at the point of choice, including online and on delivery apps, plus the statement "adults need around 2000 kcal a day". Smaller businesses, and businesses in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, don't have to, but can choose to.

This is general guidance, not legal advice. The Calorie Labelling (Out of Home Sector) (England) Regulations 2021 are enforced by local councils.

Does calorie labelling apply to my business?

How employees are counted

• Count everyone with a contract of employment, full-time or part-time. A part-time worker counts as one employee.
• Franchises: if franchisees share the same food offer, look and business model, the whole network is counted together. So a small franchised outlet of a big brand is likely in scope.
• Count across the whole business, not each site. The headcount is taken on the first day of your financial year. If you have 250 or more employees that day, you're in scope for that year.

What large businesses must show

1. Calories in kcal for each item, per portion (not per 100g). Kilojoules are optional.
2. The portion size the figure refers to, or how many people a sharing dish serves.
3. The statement "adults need around 2000 kcal a day", once per menu page or display. The guidance says the wording is set and can't be changed. It's not needed on children's menus, but calories are.

Clear and visible: calorie information must be "easily visible, clearly legible, and not in any way hidden or obscured". The guidance suggests matching the font, size and colour of the price or description, though it doesn't set a font size.

Accuracy: you can calculate calories from recipes, manufacturer data or recognised databases. The guidance treats ±20% as an acceptable tolerance, and recommends keeping records of how you worked them out.

Where calories must appear

• Printed and board menus: next to the item's price or description.
• Display cabinets, counters and buffets: on a label next to the food.
• Online menus, apps and third-party delivery platforms: at the point the customer chooses.
• Delivery orders: calorie information must also be available when the food is delivered. The guidance suggests a calorie-labelled menu in the bag or calorie stickers on the containers.
• Menus without calories may only be given if a customer asks for one. The default menu must show calories.

Advertising and promotional leaflets aren't covered.

Food that's exempt

• Food on the menu for less than 30 consecutive days, and 30 days in total a year (specials)
• Alcoholic drinks over 1.2% ABV
• Condiments customers add themselves (salt, ketchup), unless part of the dish
• Fresh fruit and veg, unprocessed single-ingredient foods, and fish, meat or cheese not added to other food
• Loaves of bread and baguettes
• Items a customer specially requests off-menu (such as extra cheese)
• Prepacked food, which already follows food labelling law
• Some settings: schools (for pupils under 18), free food for hospital patients and care home residents, food served by the armed forces to their members, food on international planes, trains and ferries, and charity food given free or below cost

Fines and enforcement

Local councils enforce the rules. Officers usually start with advice, then can issue an improvement notice. Not complying with a notice is an offence. Councils can also use a fixed monetary penalty of £2,500 as an alternative to prosecution. The government said it would review the rules within five years of them starting (so by April 2027), and consider extending them to smaller businesses. We found no published review as of October 2026.

Calorie labelling in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland

If you're a UK-wide chain with 250+ staff, the law applies to your English outlets only. Many chains show calories everywhere for consistency.

Small business? Should you show calories anyway?

You don't have to. Some reasons you might:

• customers increasingly look for it, especially on lunch and café menus
• it may become law for smaller businesses after the review
• it's easy to add to a digital menu, and you don't need to reprint

Some reasons to be careful:

• calculating accurately takes time; a recipe costing sheet helps (try our recipe cost calculator to list ingredients and weights)
• some customers with eating disorders find calorie menus difficult. The law lets large businesses offer a calorie-free menu on request. You can do the same.

If you only do one thing, get your allergen information right: that's a legal requirement for everyone. See the 14 allergens, Natasha's Law and Owen's Law.

Calorie labelling checklist (250+ employees, England)

• Confirm headcount, including franchise network
• List every in-scope menu item and portion size
• Calculate kcal per portion and keep your workings
• Add kcal next to each price or description on every menu
• Add "adults need around 2000 kcal a day" once per menu page
• Label display cabinets and counters
• Update online ordering, QR menus and every delivery app listing
• Have a calorie-free menu available on request (optional)
• Re-check calories when recipes or suppliers change

Laying out a new menu with kcal next to each price? See our restaurant menu design tips, and the food safety posters guide for the other notices your kitchen and counter need.

Showing calories on a digital menu

Printed menus are expensive to change every time a recipe changes. A digital menu makes updates instant.

With Menuthere, your QR table menu and ordering page come from one menu. On every plan, including Free, you can add the calories (kcal) to each dish, tag any of the 14 UK allergens, and add a halal mark. Customers see them when they open a dish, in every menu layout and in the digital menu booklet. Update a dish once and every version changes together.

A few tips if you're in scope:

• Add the portion size to the dish name or description, such as "Large (2 people)".
• The law wants kcal at the point of choice, next to the price. Customers see the kcal when they open a dish, and the Diner layout also shows a short "kcal · allergens" line in the menu list. Check that your layout meets the guidance, and keep printed menus and delivery app listings labelled too.
• On Lite (US$17 a month) and above, you can put "Adults need around 2000 kcal a day" in the announcement bar across the top of your menu. It shows in most menu layouts, but not the Default or Sidebar styles.
• Keep an allergen matrix for staff too. Our allergen chart maker can load the allergens you've tagged in Menuthere.

Update your menu once and it changes on every table and order page. See how our work.

Create your free ordering pagedigital menufree QR code menu