Food businesses no longer have any excuse not to include calories on their menus, following the launch of a new online calorie calculator by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI).

The calculator, known as ‘MenuCal', is being made available to the country's 22,000 food service businesses free of charge. It will enable them to work out the calorie content in the foods they sell and serve to customers.

MenuCal was developed after many food businesses expressed concern that they did not have the expertise, resources or money to accurately calculate calories for display on menus.

Following this, the FSAI brought together nutritionists, food business trainers and computer scientists to develop a tool that would assist those in the industry to calculate calories.

"MenuCal is considered a first of its kind in Europe and the FSAI has already received interest from other jurisdictions wishing to adopt the system," the authority noted.

The tool has been tested by chefs throughout its development to ensure that it is easy to use. It includes some 2,000 popular ingredients, which users can add to based on their own recipes.

"Our research shows that there is an overwhelming demand and desire by consumers for displaying calories on menus and that nine out of ten consumers want calorie information displayed beside the price of food and drink items on the menu. We knew that a concern for food businesses was to be able to provide this information accurately and to be able to do it themselves," said Dr Mary Flynn of the FSAI.

She insisted that MenuCal achieves this.

"Displaying calories on menus in food service businesses empowers consumers to make better choices and creates a demand for healthier food in smaller portions. When food and drinks are prepared outside the home, the consumer does not know what ingredients are used and how they are prepared, so displaying calories on menus is vital if people are to make more informed choices about what they eat," she added.

The tool can be accessed here