From today, some restaurants, cafes and takeaways across the UK are legally required to add calorie counts next to dishes on their menus as new legislation on calorie labelling comes into force.
Designed as part of a move to stem a rise in obesity, the government’s decision to impose calorie counting on menus has been criticised by a number of restauranteurs, chefs and food critics as the new labelling legislation comes into force for those with over 250 employees today.
The move has also lead to criticism from Greater Manchester MasterChef winner Simon Wood.
Speaking on BBC Breakfast this morning, the Oldham-based chef said that although the rules currently don’t apply to his business he wouldn’t consider following suit unless his hand was forced.
“Until I”m forced to do it I wouldn’t do it and even then I think it’s a really difficult thing to do with seasonality and menu changes and cooking with what’s available.
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“I don’t think calories are overly relevant in certain situations. if you exercise regularly you take more calories, which means your daily intake changes […] that’s very different for everyone,” he explained.
“I wouldn’t change what I’m doing. We’re a destination restaurant. You’re there to have a good time […] it is one of those occasions where you probably will have more calories, but it’s about balance and moderation and that’s the key thing here. Moderation is really important.”
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Image: The Manc Eats
Currently, the requirements only apply to larger restaurant, takeaway and cafe businesses, defined as those with more than 250 employees.
However, if a menu changes after 30 days then businesses do not have to redesign and print it.
Some large eateries, such as Wetherspoons, The Real Greek and McDonald’s, have included calorie information on their menus for some time but now, as of today, labelling will be mandatory for large chains.
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The news has caused concern amongst campaigners for those with eating disorders, as well as more broadly amongst those in the hospitality and nutrition industries – many of whom argue that putting a number on a menu is simply not as effective as proper education about what you are putting into your body.
Speaking in favour of food education and nutrition education, Wood added that “‘wonderful, healthy ingredients are far more pertinent things to be looking at” before taking aim at food delivery apps.
“I think that apps you can order fast food delivery on are a real issue. You can do that at 12 years old if you’ve got a smartphone. That’s the kind of thing we should be looking at stopping, in my opinion.”
Speaking more practically, he also pointed to the ongoing supply chain issues in hospitality and laid out how commonplace issues like this will have a knock-on effect on how reliable these numbers are too.
“Sometimes given the current situation with hospitality and the supply chain things aren’t there, you have to adapt your menu on the fly, what are you going to do? Rewrite it every day?
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“What if things don’t turn up? What if you’re making a sauce and you need four bottles of wine but you’ve only got two? What if someone adds too much salt, sodium, things like that that aren’t considered in calories, I think there’s a bigger approach to what people should be looking at than just a number.”
Wood is not the only person to raise concerns about the move, with his comments around education being echoed by The Telegraph restaurant critic William Sitwell.
Sitwell, admittedly, went further, proclaiming on Radio 4’s Today Programme this morning: “We’re facing calorie police marching into restaurants demanding to see these menus.”
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“It’s a terrible idea, […] it demonises calories, we need calories to live, it doesn’t tell us any other information, you know, fibre, what we need to know is where food comes from, we need the government to focus on education.”
“Imagine these poor businesses today, recovering from the pandemic, having to go through this administrative nightmare of sending every single dish on their menu off to be tested. it destroys creativity, ok there are exemptions for specials but, you know, think of a young chef trying to think of some leftover ideas and suddenly they’ve got to get it tested.”
Kate Nicholls, CEO of the trade body UK Hospitality, also criticised the move – saying that the new rules came at the “worst possible time for thousands of businesses struggling to survive”.
“We’ve long called for a delay to the implementation of calorie labelling, and we’d like to see a grace period post-April to allow businesses breathing space in which to implement the new rules without the risk of unnecessary enforcement action from day one,” she said.
“It’s completely unfair to expect businesses devastated by Covid to all of a sudden introduce complicated and costly new labelling when they’ve much more pressing matters to attend to – recouping their losses of the past 24-months for a start.”
The Department of Health and Social Care has said that obesity is one of the biggest health issues being faced in the UK today, and claims that food labelling plays an important role in helping people to make healthier choices.
A spokesperson added people were ‘used to seeing nutritional information on products sold in supermarkets’ and that the governments’ policy has been informed by extensive research conducted with mental health charities and expres, reports the BBC.
Feature image – Simon Wood
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A ‘legacy walk’ in memory of the Joe Thompson is taking place across Greater Manchester
Danny Jones
The ‘Walk With Me for JT’, a.k.a Joe Thompson ‘Legacy Walk’, is back next month, and Greater Mancunians are being encouraged to take part.
Returning this year following his tragic passing last April, the now annual charity walk has already raised thousands for charity and is set for another big turnout.
Joe Thompson, an ex-Rochdale AFC and Bury FC player, sadly died at just 36 following a long battle with lymphoma, having been diagnosed three different times in 12 years.
While the young husband and father of two’s story is a heartbreaking one, it has also become a source of inspiration for so many across the North West and, indeed, across the UK, with people once again gearing up to complete a fundraising walk in his name.
Set to honour him by making the journey from his adopted home of Rochdale all the way to Old Trafford, with Thompson having come through Man United’s youth academy, the 15-mile trek will start at his former club’s Crown Oil Arena and stop at Bury’s Gigg Lane as well as Salford City’s Peninsula Stadium.
First held in 2024 under the ‘Walk With Me for JT’ banner, the initial legacy walk saw the Bath-born footballer and countless others complete 21 miles in an effort to raise money for treatment.
Gone but never forgotten, the charity walk survives not only in the hearts and souls of his family, friends and other people’s lives he touched, but in the community spirit that his struggle and immense bravery in the face of illness helped spur on throughout the region and beyond.
Writing on social media, the Thompson family and the Foundation in his memory said, “Last year, he walked beside us. This year, we walk for him. This isn’t just a walk… It’s a promise. A promise to carry his strength, his belief, his light forward.
For every family facing illness. For everyone experiencing loss or hardship. For anyone who needs hope right now. Every step matters. Every mile has meaning. Whether you’ve walked before or this is your first time. You won’t walk alone.”
Join the annual Joe Thompson legacy walk on Saturday 2nd May 💙
Departing from the Crown Oil Arena, the 15-mile walk will finish at Manchester United's Old Trafford 🏟️
They signed off by adding: “Be part of something bigger. Be part of Joe’s legacy. Be part of the movement. Get a team together, invite your friends, colleagues and family and let’s raise funds to support The Joe Thompson Foundation.”
With the event beginning at 11am on Saturday, 2 May, there have already been numerous sign-ups, and you can expect even more to lace up their shoes and pay tribute to a local hero.
If you want to join in the effort and help do your bit, you can register for the 2026 Joe Thompson Legacy Walk right HERE.
Manchester rent is now ‘41% more expensive than five years ago, according to a recent study
Danny Jones
Yes, that’s right, as per some of the latest data on leased housing in central Manchester, it’s now approximately 41% more expensive to rent here than it was half a decade ago.
If you’ve lived in and around the city centre for long enough, chances are that you’ve already been feeling that difference, especially of late.
The ongoing cost-of-living crisis roughly began in 2021, following the economy and the world essentially opening back up after multiple lockdowns, so it’s little surprise that new research has shown affordability when it comes to renting has been on a slump ever since, too.
As well as the price of seemingly most things in everyday life going up post-pandemic, the average rental rate for even just a one-bedroom flat/apartment has jumped up significantly between 2020 and 2025.
Even some ‘available’ housing in town is being hampered by claddin (Credit: Valienne via WikiCommons)
That’s according to the numbers crunched by credit card experts, Zable, anyway.
Not only did their recent report cite the rent prices going up even before the cost of living crisis – essentially following the outset of the Covid-19 outbreak – but if their figures, the rate of inflation and the unwaveringly high demand for housing are anything to go by, this trajectory is likely to continue in 2026.
As of February this year, around one in three UK households is now a single-person occupancy, which already comes with its challenges (the Manchester City Council tax discount being a thin lifeline for countless), not to mention energy bills and the cost of groceries continuing on an upwards trend.
Put in the simplest and most reductive terms, it’s now almost £300 dearer for most people to live on their own than it was back in 2020, and besides Liverpool clocking in as second on the list of increasingly expensive cities to live (a 42.12% increase), Manchester came in third.
You can see the full table down below:
Rank
City
% increase – 2020-2025
Difference from 2020 to 2025 in £
Average rental cost for a 1 bed 2025
1
Newport
47.39%
£2,611
£8,121
2
Liverpool
42.12%
£2,290
£7,727
3
Manchester
41.00%
£3,364
£11,569
4
Edinburgh
40.28%
£4,620
£16,090
5
Leicester
39.93%
£2,391
£8,379
6
Wolverhampton
39.22%
£2,049
£7,273
7
Nottingham
39.07%
£2,400
£8,543
8
Glasgow
38.02%
£2,679
£9,725
9
Colchester
37.63%
£2,617
£9,572
10
Cardiff
37.06%
£2,828
Average rental cost for a 1-bed 2025
Another fear is that with lots of people finding it hard to manage living in other major cities like London, even those moving to Manchester are also having an impact on how available affordable housing is here.
That’s why schemes such as the new ‘social rent’ development over in Wythenshawe are so important to the current generations of renters, with the possibility of owning your own property in the future becoming increasingly difficult for so many.
It’s also worth noting that Manchester ranked fourth among the British locations where the cost of living is said to have increased the most over the past five years, with the average difference in annual spend growing by an estimated 22.84%.
Georgina Pellant -
6th April 2022 
