Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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To ask the Minister for Health the time frame for the introduction of the calorie count legislation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10812/13]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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There is currently no proposal to introduce legislation for calorie posting.

As one initiative among others, to halt the rising levels of overweight and obesity, I initially wrote to 19 fast-food and coffee shop businesses to voluntarily display the calorie content of food and drinks offered on their menus. Calories on menus help people make healthier more informed choices.

I requested the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) to carry out a national consultation, which found that over 95% of consumers in Ireland want calories on menus. I am very much in favour that the programme of putting calories on menus in Ireland be introduced on a voluntary basis. Recent monitoring information from the FSAI, found that almost half of those to whom I wrote are currently displaying calories on menus.

Nevertheless, if a voluntary approach fails to make the desired impact, I may then have to consider legislation. The consultation showed that 92% of consumers and 88% of health professionals supported a mandatory approach for large food service businesses, although only 58% of food businesses would support that approach.

Following the national consultation, the FSAI has published a step-by-step guide for food businesses on how to achieve this:

The FSAI is currently conducting a large telephone survey and quality assessment evaluating the uptake of calorie menu labelling by Food Service Businesses in Ireland. The final survey results will be ready for publication in March 2013. The FSAI is also working on a software tool to provide the Food Service Business with an easy method to establish the calorie content in the range of dishes which are on menus for more than 30 days per year.