Northampton curry house counts calories to give diners chance to make ‘informed choice’ over healthy eating

Diet expert Sheena Rose and Saffron's chef Bodrul Islam.

Saffron, in Castilian Street, is working with Northampton-based nutrition expert Sheena Rose to analyse the contents of some of its most popular dishes, allowing diners to easily understand the calorie content of what they are eating.

The move is set to help smooth the transition ahead of potential legislation which could eventually become mandatory for all restaurants to display the calories contained in every dish on their menus.

The Department of Health and Social Care wants to make it a legal requirement as part of its childhood obesity strategy which aims to halve childhood obesity rates by 2030.

Saffron has pledged to print the calorie count of all its meals on its menus.

Saffron owner Naz Islam said: “There is no doubt that customers, and society in general, are becoming increasingly health conscious. We want to be proactive in the community and make a stand for the prevention of obesity by giving our diners all the information they need to make better, well-informed and healthier choices.

“Rather than waiting for legislation to come in further down the line, we want to get ahead of the game and start the ball rolling now. We’re looking forward to working with Sheena to test our dishes and displaying the calorie counts of some of our most popular dishes.”

The nation’s most popular dish Indian dish, chicken tikka masala, is one of two to be tested as part of the initial pilot, along with a classic chicken curry.

Sheena Rose, who also has 30 years' experience as a chef and registered nutritionist, said: I’m delighted to be working with like-minded innovators such as Saffron, a forward-thinking restaurant, in a bid to pioneer this approach in the independent sector. It proves they care passionately about their food and have the customer at the forefront of their mind at all times.

"Labelling of calorie contents on restaurant menus seems inevitable, lots of big chains are already doing it and it’s logical to make it easier for people to make better choices."

Calorie counts of popular dishes could potentially be displayed on Saffron’s menus later this year.