Dr Hilary Jones has been under fire for his comments on ITV'S Lorraine on Wednesday morning, as the health expert claimed that those with eating disorders "do not go to restaurants anyway".
Speaking on the ITV show this morning, stand-in host Ranvir Singh brought up the topic of restaurant menus now introducing a calorie count on their meals.
Dr Hilary said: "I don't think it will do any harm at all, if we know the calories that we are consuming, then we can make a choice, and most people who go to a restaurant just want to keep an eye on their weight."
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According to the UK Government, calories will be labelled on menus and food labels in out-of-home food businesses from April 2022, the government has announced.
The regulation requires that large businesses with 250 or more employees in England, including cafes, restaurants and takeaways, to display the calorie information of non-prepacked food and soft drink items that are prepared for customers.
Ranvir then brought up the sensitive topic of eating disorders, stating that it may be "triggering" for those who struggle with restrictive eating to see the calories on a meal.
Dr Hilary replied: "Of course, the whole thing is being criticised by people saying 'well, people with eating disorders might be encouraged to focus in on this', but people with the most serious eating disorders, like anorexia, don't go to restaurants.
"They already will know exactly how many calories are in everything, so I don't think that's a problem."
After this statement, viewers flocked to social media to share their outrage regarding Dr Hilary's words, with one Twitter user calling for an announcement from an eating disorder charity: "@beatED PLEASE can you release a statement on what Dr Hilary just said about eating disorders on ITV? It was so misinformed, damaging and dangerous. #BEAT #eating #disorders"
Another directly called out the show, writing: "Canny ridiculous for Dr Hillary to say that anorexia sufferers don't go to restaurants like. #Lorraine.
"Before anyone starts, it was left on the telly when I got back from dropping the kids off."
And a third said: "Not a professional saying people with anorexia “don’t go to restaurants” and “already know all the calories” lmfaooo is that a joke? #lorraine"
Another comment read: "What a load of tosh, if I'm spending more on a meal at a restaurant than I would at home the last thing I would be considering is the calorie content #lorraine"
And a fifth wrote: "The comments Dr Doom just made about people with eating disorders are disgusting, he's clearly out of touch and it's about time they stopped giving him airtime #Lorraine"
Lorraine resumes on Thursday April 7 on ITV from 9am onwards.
