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B.C. residents don't ponder calories when eating out: poll

FILE PHOTO
FILE PHOTO
Image Credit: PEXELS

Very few British Columbians bother to check the nutritional value of food while eating out although 75 per cent believe it should be mandatory to display calories on the menu.

A recent Research Co. poll found only 13 per cent paid any attention to the nutritional content when dining out, and only 11 per cent when ordering food delivery.

However, almost a third of B.C. residents "frequently" check the labels when they are in the grocery store to look at the number of calories in a product.

When in the supermarket 32 per cent check for salt content, and 29 per cent for fat. However, when in a restaurant only 14 per cent check for salt, and 13 per cent for fat.

READ MORE: Food service and drinking places sales rose 3 per cent in May: StatCan

In Ontario, it is mandatory to display calories on a menu and in 2018 three-quarters of B.C. residents favoured adopting this regulation.

"British Columbians appear to be affected by the lack of standards when it comes to nutritional information in restaurants," Research Co. president Mario Canseco, said in a media release issued, July 26. "Customers do not have the same information to make a decision that they currently have at the grocery store."

The poll also found that 45 per cent of B.C. residents use some sort of fitness tracker to measure the amount of exercise and/or calorie consumption.

In the Southern Interior, 46 per cent used a fitness tracker, while the gadgets are most popular in Metro Vancouver with 49 per cent of those surveyed saying they use one.


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