What’s behind our choices? Understanding food purchases and behaviours in the out of home environment in Scotland

Food and drink available out of home are often high in calories, saturated fat, sugar, and salt, making it very challenging for consumers to eat and drink healthy options.

In 2021, nearly two thirds of meals bought out of home in Great Britain were higher than Public Health England’s recommendation of around 600 calories per meal (8,9). Almost one in five meals had more than double this amount!

When actual food samples were analysed, the results were even more striking. Nearly all UK wide takeaway meals sampled exceeded 600 calories, and over half contained more than 1,200 calories (11). With the Eatwell Guide recommendations of around 2,000 calories a day, a single takeaway could easily provide more than half a day’s intake (12).

Exploration of small and independent takeaway outlets in Scotland had similar findings, with high levels of calories, saturated fat and salt found in the food samples analysed. They also showed low levels of fibre, which is a concern as fibre makes a positive contribution to the diet and is something most people eat too little of (13).

Eighteen percent of all the food samples tested had less than two grams of fibre per portion, which is a very small amount compared to the recommended 30 grams per day (14).

Wide ranges in portion size, and therefore calorie content, were found in some of the options explored. For example the largest macaroni cheese sample was more than four times that of the smallest, despite all portions purchased for analysis being ‘regular’ or ‘standard’ (13).

Smaller portions are possible! This could both benefit our health, and might even help businesses make more profit and reduce waste. 

Overall, the above demonstrates that these commonly consumed out of home foods contained high levels of calories, saturated fat and salt.  Eating these foods too often could lead to poorer health.

Children are shaped by the food around them, and unfortunately many of their out of home options also fall short. Nearly half of independent food outlets in Scotland surveyed had a children’s menu, and popular items include burgers, chicken nuggets, sandwiches and pizza (15).

An exploration of children’s meals found that a cheeseburger meal can provide more than half the daily maximum recommended calorie and salt intakes, and nearly the maximum saturated fat limit for children aged 7 to 10 years (13). Chips were found to be served with 72% of children’s meals in Northern Ireland, while vegetables were offered with fewer than a quarter (16).

With the rise in children at risk of overweight and obesity, improving these options is needed urgently.

When eating out of home in Scotland during 2025, we snacked more often than we went out for meals, such as breakfast, lunch or dinner (3). Although, many of these snack options pack as many calories as a full meal (17).

When sweet snack options, such as cakes, doughnuts, muffins and traybakes sold out of home were analysed, it was found that:

• the average snack had 449 calories
• almost 1 in 20 snacks exceeded 1,000 calories

Popular dessert drinks like milkshakes, and ice cream floats averaged 451 calories, almost a quarter of the recommended daily intake (17).

Three quarters of these sweet snack products were more than the UK Government’s guideline of a maximum of 325 calories per portion (18). This demonstrates the need for further reformulation and portion size reduction.

A food environment that makes healthy eating hard

Across Scotland, eating out is easy, but eating well while eating out is not. Whether it’s a takeaway dinner, a quick snack, or a child’s meal, we are flooded with options high in calories, saturated fat, salt and sugar, while healthier alternatives are hard to find. Snacking is the most popular way to eat out, yet many snacks contain enough calories to derail a balanced diet.