Would these labels influence your takeaway order? Just Eat is trialling carbon labels

With snow blanketing much of the UK, many Britons will be looking forward to cosying up on the sofa with a delicious takeaway this weekend. 

But if you’re ordering through the Just Eat app, a new feature could influence your decision. 

The food delivery platform is adding carbon ratings in a new trial that aims to encourage customers to choose more environmentally friendly meals.

The traffic light-style rating system will factor in the farming, production, transport and packaging of dishes. 

‘This trial, with the support of our restaurant partners, aims to empower and educate our consumers on the impact food choices can have on our planet,’ said Jaz Rabadia, Head of Responsible Business and Sustainability at Just Eat.

The ratings range from ‘A’, which indicates a very low carbon impact, through to E, which indicates a very high carbon impact

Just Eat has joined forces with My Emissions for the trial, which will run across five restaurants in Brighton for the next 12 weeks. 

The menus for these restaurants – Smoque Burger, No Catch, Brewdog, Fat Pizza and Fat Burgers and Desserts – will feature traffic light ratings next to food items. 

The ratings range from ‘A’, which indicates a very low carbon impact, through to E, which indicates a very high carbon impact. 

For example, on the Smoque Burger menu, Smoque’s vegan burger, which includes a Moving Mountains plant-based patty, lettuce, red onions, pickles, homemade vegan burger sauce and a fresh seeded vegan bun, has been given an A rating. 

In contrast, the restaurant’s beef burger has been given an E rating, thanks to its inclusion of a beef patty. 

Sepand Sarmadi, Owner of Smoque Burger, said: ‘More and more of our customers are becoming aware of the environmental impact of the food industry, with many looking to make more climate conscious food choices. 

‘We’re really pleased to be involved in this project to learn more about the carbon impact of our food and gain insights into customer preferences.’ 

Just Eat hopes the new labels will help customers to better understand the environmental impact of their food choices. 

‘We are com­mit­ted to building a more sustainable future for the food delivery industry,’ Ms Rabadia added. 

It remains unclear when, or if, Just Eat plans to roll the trial out beyond Brighton. 

This isn’t the first time Just Eat has shown its green credentials. 

Last year, Just Eat and UEFA launched ‘game-changing’ biodegradable food packaging at the Women’s EURO final, as part of their drive to tackle plastic pollution. 

The boxes were lined in seaweed and fully recyclable, decomposing in four weeks in a home compost, according to Notpla, who Just Eat worked with on the project. 

‘A typical takeaway box has synthetic additives added directly into the pulp, making it impossible to decompose,’ Notpla’s website explains.

‘During the composting process, we can observe that, while the board degrades, the coating itself remains completely unchanged.’