Enjoying a takeaway or stopping into your local café for a snack is a habitual treat for many of us, and the independent food businesses in our neighbourhoods are hugely important parts of our communities.

But the food available at these businesses, part of the out-of-home food sector (OOH) which includes any prepared food or drink purchased for immediate consumption, is more likely to be higher in calories, fat, salt and sugar than the food we make at home.

To improve our health, we need to make it easier to enjoy healthier food from OOH outlets. Calorie labelling legislation in force in England, practised across the UK, obliges large chain outlets to display the calorie content of their food. But there is currently a data gap around the calorie content of menu items sold by independent businesses.

That’s why we are carrying out an analysis of the calorie content of some of the UK’s favourite takeaway foods from small, independent businesses in six locations across England, Scotland and Wales.

Around two-thirds of the UK adult population is living with excess weight, a figure that has grown dramatically over the last 30 years. At Nesta, we believe everyone deserves to live a long and healthy life, no matter where they live or their life circumstances. But living with obesity cuts lives short by increasing the risk of disease and other health problems.

The calorie content of takeaway food is often higher than that of food prepared at home, meaning OOH food makes a significant contribution to our diet, about 300 calories per person per day across the population. Legislation has meant that big fast food chains have to provide calorie information but smaller independent shops do not – so there is big data gap on the calorie consumption from this important sector and how that impacts levels of obesity in the UK.

We collected 600 samples covering the 10 popular dishes across five of the most popular cuisines from independent takeaway businesses in six British cities – London, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Cardiff, and Swansea. The samples were sent to an accredited testing lab, where they were weighed and tested for their calorie content and nutritional composition.

Key findings

• Across all cuisines, meals contained an average of 1,289 calories.
• 99% of meals exceeded the recommended calorie intake of 600 kcal per meal, 57% exceeded double that and 2% exceeded the recommended daily intake of 2,250 kcal.
• Despite only sampling meals listed as 'regular' or 'medium' portions, the calorie content of each meal varied widely.
• More expensive meals had a higher number of calories, even after adjusting for differences in portion size (in grams).
• Meals on promotion were smaller in size but had a higher energy density, meaning they contained the same number of calories as meals not on promotion.

This research highlights the high-calorie content of some of Britain’s best-loved takeaway meals and how big variations in calories combined with the lack of calorie information make it challenging for consumers to opt for a healthier version of their favourite meal.

A lower-calorie version could be a short walk away but without calorie information, consumers cannot be confident which of their local takeaways offers the healthiest option.

What the variation in portion sizes available at SME OOH outlets shows is that efforts to reduce portion size may be a more viable approach to reducing calorie intake in this sector than adjusting recipes to cut calorie content. These small adjustments would improve the healthiness of our favourite takeaway foods, without reducing the joy we take from it.