Irish restaurants may soon be forced to display calorie counts for every meal on the menu.

The Minister for Health is reportedly aiming to introduce the counts by the end of the year as part of the Government's obesity action plan.

The proposals would see the introduction of a traffic light system for menus - with red for a high amount of calories and green for a low count.

The plan aims to tackle the rising rates of obesity in Ireland - however, it has not received rave reviews from nutritionists or restaurant owners.

Calories on menu is not not answer for independent restaurants let us educate not legislate ⁦@RAI_ie⁩ ⁦@ChefNetworkIRL⁩ ⁦@chefcollab⁩ ⁦@gazzachef⁩ ⁦@mistereatgalway⁩ pic.twitter.com/kfZhQsnpzK

— Paul Lenehan (@PresidentRAI) February 27, 2019

Leading nutritionist Maeve Hannon said she can see pros and cons to the idea.

"On the one hand it can be really helpful for some people to have a bit of an awareness of calories to know exactly what they are putting in their body and for some people who are trying to lose weight that can be helpful," she said.

"On the flip side, if somebody say has a history of an eating disorder or are predisposed to become a bit too focused on foods or calories, then that can be quite a negative thing."

Calorie counts

According to an ESRI working paper, published last week, the introduction of the counts is likely to see consumers opting for lower caloric options.

It found that diners who were given menus containing calories counts ordered 93 fewer calories than those that were not.

Nutrition

Ms Hannon warned that calories are not the only thing people should be taking into account.

"Something like an avocado - it is a really healthy food; it is healthy fats but it will be higher in calories than something that potentially might have more salt in it or more sugar," she said.

"So that is why the calories [plan] just doesn't take in the overall nutritional content of a food.

"So, only focusing on calories is not the healthy thing to do."

Minister Harris aims to publish the new legislation by the end of 2019.