Brakes, the UK’s leading foodservice wholesaler, has created a number of new resources following feedback from some customers that regulations requiring certain businesses to display calorie information are causing concern and confusion ahead of their scheduled introduction on 6 April 2022.

The new rules, which apply in England only, require large businesses with more than 250 staff to display calorie information of non-prepacked food and soft drink items, whether consumed on or off the premises.

However, there are exclusions and complications and Brakes has created a range of resources to help customers better understand how the legislation impacts their business.  These include practical guides and a two-part on-demand webinar which can be accessed at https://www.brake.co.uk/virtual-food-event

In addition, Brakes has partnered with Nutritics to launch the ‘Virtual Chef’, which makes the entire process simple.  Virtual Chef is an all-encompassing recipe management tool, feeding from a live list of Brakes’ products and incorporating highlighted allergen and nutritional information. This helps save time and lowers risk by reducing human error and avoids having to separately enter data for allergens and calories.  With a bespoke label design functionality, outlets can easily comply with legislation for adding calories to menus and providing relevant allergen information.

Gerry Thomas, Technical Director at Brakes, said: “The feedback we’ve received from customers is that some are unsure about this upcoming legislation and how it applies to them.  We’ve therefore tried to create a range of resources that make it as easy as possible for individual operators to ensure that they are compliant with the new rules.”