Calorie labels on takeout widely ignored by hungry customers

By Stephen Beech

Calorie labeling is “widely unnoticed” and influences only a “minority” of choices when ordering a takeout, reveals new research.

Taste and price are the key factors when ordering food online rather than the calorie content, according to the findings.

People under 35 are more than twice as likely to order a takeout online at least once a week as older age groups, suggests the research.

And the clinically obese are twice as likely to eat weekly takeout as those of a healthy weight, according to the findings published in the journal BMJ Nutrition Prevention and Health .

The limited impact of now compulsory calorie labeling highlighted by the research calls for extra measures to promote better food choices, say health experts.

Takeout is usually lower in nutritional c