Press Releases

Interest In Software Grows As Menu Labelling Issue Heats Up

17th July 2009

 
 
There’s growing interest in software that will support the provision of nutritional information on menus, according to Fretwell-Downing Hospitality (FDH), particularly following reports that nutritional labelling may be made a compulsory requirement.
 
Just last month, and in the wake of news that the US is proposing the introduction of a national nutritional labelling standard,  the Food Standards Agency reportedly suggested that menu labelling for UK restaurants could  also be made compulsory if there was insufficient support for the voluntary scheme.
 
In the US, the proposed legislation, which has the backing of the National Restaurant Association, would introduce a national standard to provide calorific information on the menu and additional information, such as sodium and carbohydrate, in other accessible forms.* 
 
According to FDH, the news has prompted a flurry of enquiries from restaurant chains operating in the UK, for information about the company’s nutritional analysis software, Saffron Nutrition.
 
The software enables users to enter information such as the ingredients, quantities and cooking method and the system then provides a nutritional breakdown of a recipe using a comprehensive database of food nutrient values. The software also carries the nutritional breakdown of the majority of food manufacturers’ products.
 
The results of the analysis are presented as a traffic light display that is similar to the system used on food packaging and the software can be integrated with existing technology to automatically display this information on menus or websites.
 
FDH’s sales director Andrew Markwell comments: “There has been a leap in the number of enquiries as restaurants now know that the FSA means business, and are also looking at what is happening in the US.
 
“The ‘how do we do this?’ question is beginning to arise as chains and indeed individual restaurants begin seeking out the options open to them. One of the big challenges in obtaining an accurate analysis is the adjustment that needs to be made to take account of the nutritional differences that occur through different cooking methods. Saffron is sophisticated enough to adjust the analysis in this way.”
 
 

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