Charity reveals “troubling” findings on calorie awareness

The YouGov poll found that about two-thirds of UK adults underestimated the level of calories in foods such as houmous (only 32% selected this as high in calories) and 'light' mayonnaise (only 29% selected this as high in calories). Confusion around terms such as 'light' or 'reduced fat' when used for foods that are actually high in calories is compounding the problem, the charity said. Maya Monteiro, senior education manager at WCRF, said: "Despite decades of increasing awareness about calories and healthy eating, it seems a lot of people are still confused about the calorie content of everyday foods. This troubling lack of understanding is perhaps not helped by labels such as 'light' and 'reduced fat' when these are applied to foods which still have a high calorie content. "This is why WCRF tries to help people understand the information on food labels. If people are unaware which foods contain lots of calories then it makes it even more difficult to adopt a diet that can help maintain a healthy weight. This is important because being overweight is a major factor in several potentially fatal diseases, including cancer." Both houmous and 'light' mayonnaise are high-calorie, or high in energy density. Houmous contains an average 332 calories per 100g and 'light' or 'reduced fat' mayonnaise contains an average of 259 calories. These exceed WCRF's definition of foods high in energy density, which are foods that contain more than about 225 calories per 100g. A fifth (20%) think bananas are high in calories although the fruit contains just 95 calories per 100g on average, making it a low energy-dense food. However, a high proportion of the poll – 75% – recognised that flapjacks are high calorie. They have an average of 439 calories per 100g. Monteiro added: "At this time of year many people make New Year's resolutions to lose weight but to do this it is important that they understand how to determine whether a food is high in calories. "Reduced fat doesn't necessarily mean low fat. It is important for people to be able to make informed choices about the food they eat." To help inform people about the energy density of different foods and drinks, WCRF has launched the Energy Density Calculator on its website. Click here to use the tool.