RSPH calls for ‘activity equivalent’ calorie labelling

The Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) has called for ‘activity equivalent’ calorie labelling, allowing food packaging to display how much exercise is needed to burn off the calories consumed in the product.

Health experts have warned that current calorie information is too confusing and is not doing enough to change behaviour. The Society recommends that if consumers were informed about how much physical activity was required to burn off the extra calories, they would be less keen to pick up high fat or sugary products.

The news comes after Cancer Research UK predicted that obesity related cancer is set to rise 45 per cent in the next two decades, causing 700,000 new cases of cancer.

Writing in the BMJ, Shirley Cramer, chief executive of the RSPH, said: "The aim is to prompt people to be more mindful of the energy they consume and how these calories relate to activities in their everyday lives, to encourage them to be more physically active.

"Such information needs to be as simple as possible so that the public can easily decide what to buy and consume in the average six seconds people spend looking at food before buying. We desperately need innovative initiatives to change behaviour at population level.

"People find symbols much easier to understand than numerical information, and activity equivalent calorie labels are easy to understand. For example, the calories in a can of fizzy drink take a person of average age and weight about 26 minutes to walk off.

“Given its simplicity, activity equivalent calorie labelling offers a recognisable reference that is accessible to everyone.”