AIBU to think this is ridiculous?

My standard Victoria sponge recipe is 4, 4, 4, 4, janea. Four ounces each of butter, sugar, flour and egg. Four oz of sugar divided by 8 is half an ounce. Add a smear of jam and smear of icing.

The point, as you say, is portion size. I thought I had gathered from other posts of yours (perhaps some time ago now) that you were trying to avoid added sugar in your diet altogether, so I was a bit surprised that you would even look at Starbucks cakes ?

My approach is this: when I want a Starbucks coffee and a Starbucks cake, that's what I have. I don't find that I care about sugar content. Worry free treats are allowed in my life. This approach seems to have been harmless so far.

I think the main thing about the adding calorific content to menu items in eat-out-eries is that it won't make a blind bit of difference to the people it aims to make a difference to which, in my view, means it's probably going to be another glorious waste of time, energy and expence.

Great opportunity for the “let’s sue brigade”. If they sneaked a portion away, had it analysed and could prove it contained more/fewer calories than claimed.
In portion control places it might be easy but when I go out to eat, I anticipate that it will have more calories than a meal I might prepare at home.
If I choose something with a sauce, with anything fried, or made with butter or cream, I know it will have a lot of calories so if I choose it I shouldn’t complain.
However I’d love to see calorie lists on carvery menus where you get meat then help yourself to as many vegetables as you want. I think of some of the plates piled mountain high with roast potatoes and other veg which were floating in butter or cream sauce and think, “Would you get all that if there was a calorie list next to it?” (They probably would.)

Can understand how this could be done in a chain restaurant eg McD's and that it might work as a deterrent but I would have thought it was impossible in a high end restaurant with all the little dabs of sauces/dressings etc. I eat out as a treat and don't want to feel guilty by having calorie content advertised - in any event could it even be made exact?

I'm just concerned with the price! No way I'm going to concern myself with calories! Never have and never will!

paddyann Mine was a general comment about the current ethos around food. I don’t have a problem with calorie, sugar and fat content put onto menus as such but I usually have a good idea of these things anyway

Baggs you are right, I should have said the accompaniments.
My usual curry, sweet potato, chick pea and spinach is only 792 cal., my usual accompaniment of mango chutney, rice and garlic nan added a further 771 cal.
It certainly opened my eyes to how easy it is to underestimate what you are eating.

calculating the calories in a particular dish would drive him crazy.

It's actually not that difficult. There are programmes available for download where you just type in the ingredients of a meal and the quantities used then divide by the number of portions it yields and it prints off either/both the traffic light system of information or a nutritional value label. The latter will give you the calories as well as sugar content etc., per portion.

Any chef planning a menu would obviously save the information for future use. Usually, only the specials board is changed daily and those dishes will be made from ingredients in stock so it should be easy to access saved information.

i don't look at the calories in prepackaged food so i wouldn't look at any calory information on a menu either.
if i go out for a meal then i'm going out to enjoy myself and if it involves chips/fries and a creamy dessert then that's what it's all about!
my guy is a head chef and he has costing and serving sizes off to a tee - but calculating the calories in a particular dish would drive him crazy.

Given that a standard piece of homemade Victoria sponge cake (an 8th of the whole) weighs about 70g (I just weighed one), I'm wondering what a cake that contains 60g of sugar must weigh and thinking it must be quite a big cake or piece thereof

Yes baggs that’s the point. Muffins and cakes in Starbucks and similar places are massive, so knowing the sugar content (I’m more interested in that than calories) would help me to make an informed choice about whether to have one or not.

As for a Victoria sponge cake, a standard recipe would contain 6oz sugar, plus a bit more if you put jam in the middle. So say 200g for the whole cake.

If your portion is 1/8 cake, then you’re consuming 25g sugar in one go. Your Starbucks cake with 60g of sugar would be equivalent to about a third of your homemade cake.

Sugar is implicated in not only type 2 diabetes, but cardiovascular disease and dementia too.

I think it’s only fair that people who want to control their sugar intake should have access to relevant information in the same way that other people who control their diet for health reasons (gluten intolerance, lactose intolerance etc) do.

It’s nothing to do with spoiling other people’s enjoyment or dictating to them what they should eat.

Love good Good, really do not want to look at the calories. As a adult I will make up my own mind.
Typing this in a coffee shop and eaten to many calories and enjoyed it.

I live on the Mediterranean and a few years ago attended several cooking demonstrations given by a local chef. The Mediterranean diet is lauded as one of the best in the world. So you can imagine my amazement at the amount of olive oil and sea salt that was used. Not once measured just poured from a huge bottle and the salt taken from a pot. The end result was delicious. I then understood why I found it difficult to replicate the food in my own kitchen.

I do agree with Maw. I want to enjoy my time dining out. If needs be have a starter or a desert perhaps not both. Just be careful of 'salads' we all know that the term is used very loosely these days.

Is this another sledgehammer to crack a nut? I suspect that it is the high calorie fast foods that the powers that be are trying to highlight! It is not about calorific value of one meal but the overall quality of diet people experience. If you eat healthily for 8 out of 10 meals and have 2 that are richer in calories then not a huge problem. If it is the other way round then it is an issue.

Everyone knows cake is high in calories, pa. Anyone who pretends to be surprised is... well... pretending.

Calorie counting is not really my ay of reducing my weight or eatinf a balanced diet.I need to lose weight atm so will do so i n a,way I know works for me. Maybe restaurants can have 2 menu prints..one with one without...

Baggs I just made a chocolate sponge cake 8" in diameter and acccording to the recipe it would feed 10 and be over 400 cals per portion.The vast majority of people would want a bigger slice than that and wouldn't have a clue about the calorie count.In fact I told my OH just as he helped himself to a slice and he was horrified and he's supposed to be losing a wee bit of weight before his annual heart check up .
Jenpax I love food and spend most of my time in the kitchen ,I love feeding people too so I'm not being a killjoy for anyone .Just for me I'd like to know what the calorie count on a plate of food in a restaurant is,couldn't care less about anyone elses.

You'd have to eat a lot of mango chutney for it to double the calorie count of anything much other than lettuce! Chutney is basically a kind of jam. You don't need a lot of either.

I am with those who bemoan the kill joy attitudes to food.
Good food should be a pleasure not a sin! I feel that food especially sugar in any form??‍♀️is now being vilified and that this mantra is sucking the joy out of meal times

I have eaten in restaurants where there is a calorie breakdown on the menu and found it highly informative. Simply adding things like mango chutney (which, to be honest wasn't really essential) almost doubled the calorie count.
It certainly made me adjust my order. Let's hope this is brought in soon.

What a load of waffle - does anybody really set out to read about calories etc before ordering a meal. Everything in moderation. Eat what you fancy within reason. Use your own common sense not the word of jumped up goody goodies who have nothing better to do than tell people how to live their lives, Get off this silly band wagon and bring back cookery lessons in school so at least the next generation of children will know how to feed themselves properly.

I think the 'traffic light' labelling they have on many foods would be useful, and much easier for food establishments to administer.

Eating out is not the norm for myself, it's a huge treat.

I think it is a great idea. We were in America last year where they did this and I was horrified to see that some of the starters contained more calories than the total days required amount. At least you can try and avert this if you can see the calories.

I am heartily sick of being told how to eat healthily. People who don't know what's good or bad for them by now must be living with their heads in the sand. I find it unbelievable the number of young people who smoke cigarettes, when for years we've known the dangers. There are some people who just don't want to take responsibility for their own safety and well being - it's always somebody else who's to blame.

Hate the idea. Fed up with being 'advised' about how to live my life!

When I go out for a meal, I shall have my cake and eat it.
I intend to have a large portion of chips as well.