In recent times there has been a lot of discussion, especially in America and Great Britain, the Western countries most affected by the obesity pandemic, about the possibility that all restaurants, but above all the large catering chains, include calories in the menus: a decision that for some chains, such as McDonald’s, it has already been implemented for some time, but it should soon also involve European and Italian catering chains and restaurants. 
In a society where cooking is often idealized and relaunched through a thousand thousand programs, the need for people to know how many calories are in the dishes they see or order when they eat is a fact.
In fact, people already tend to underestimate the calories of what they cook or eat even without going to a restaurant: something highlighted by many studies , and which partly explains why many people gain weight while telling others and themselves to eat little. Let alone when you go out to eat. Imagine if we were all aware of the calories of a capricciosa pizza from the Neapolitan pizzeria that we love to go to, or of the tiramisu that we enjoy in the pastry bar on Sundays; or the (real) calories of croissants at the bar, which, no, are not around 200-250 as some believe .

But there are two problems related to the calories in the menus, which make this useless and almost impossible:
– the calories on the menus can be accurate only in chain restaurants , less so in normal restaurants: this is because you cannot ask the chef to count the he uses oil in sautées, to weigh the dough, to consider the calories of the fat parts of the cream or butter or sugar in desserts. In chain restaurants, where the food is pre-portioned, it is obviously simpler: those who work there only have to reheat it, or follow the instructions for preparation. The company takes care of pre-portioning.
But even there: if already at the supermarket the food companies mess up with caloriesof their foods up to ten, twenty percent, or even, as it turned out in a documentary , even half of what is stated on the label (this would be illegal , but who has the time and desire to check all the samples of products on the shelves of a supermarket?), let alone if the consumer can really be aware of the correctness of calories in the menus

But there is another reason why calories on menus are a chimera for the moment.
They are not suitable for restaurateurs.
In fact, the consumer tends to order 12% less food if he is aware of how many calories he has, and eats one eighth fewer of the calories he would consume if he knew nothing.
Which is good for him, but not good for whoever sells that food. Unless you change the offer, and immediately propose lower calorie dishes or drinks, as did Starbucks.
British restaurateurs complain of reduced revenues, while food companies in Great Britain must reduce the calories of their products by 20% by 2024.