Supreme Pizza / Slice 3 of 6
Kilojoules on the pizza menu, and what 8,700 kJ means
In NSW, a takeaway chain with 20 or more outlets in the state or 50 or more nationally must show the average kilojoules of each standard item on its menu, beside the statement ‘The average adult daily energy intake is 8,700 kJ’, and the Food Authority names pizza chains among the outlets this covers. Victoria and the ACT have their own laws with their own thresholds, and 8,700 kJ is an average for adults, not anyone’s personal target.
General information, not health or legal advice. The official places to check are your state or territory food regulator, listed by Food Standards Australia New Zealand, and, for your own energy needs, your doctor or an Accredited Practising Dietitian.
Which outlets must show kilojoules
Kilojoule menu laws have grown up state by state. A ministerial policy guideline published on the Food Regulation site says five Australian jurisdictions brought in mandatory menu-labelling schemes between 2011 and 2017, and that they differ in which businesses they capture and how the figures must be shown. The three below are the ones read for this page; for any other state or territory, ask its food regulator.
| Where | Who must show kilojoules | Some exemptions |
|---|---|---|
| NSW (Fast Choices) | Chains under a shared trading name and branding selling ready-to-eat takeaway items, with 20 or more outlets in NSW or 50 or more nationally. The Food Authority lists pizza chains among them. | Convenience stores, service stations, caterers, and businesses that only sell food to eat on the premises, such as dine-in-only restaurants. |
| Victoria | Chain food businesses with at least 20 registered outlets in Victoria, or 50 nationally with at least one in Victoria. In effect since 1 May 2018. | Among others: caterers, temporary food businesses, mobile food businesses and service stations. |
| ACT | In the ACT Government’s words, “a chain or franchise group selling standard food items at 7 or more places in the ACT or at 50 or more places in Australia”. Pizza chains are among the examples given. | Caterers, for example. |
So the kilojoule figure is something to expect from a big pizza chain in these places, and not from a pizzeria with a single shop, which falls below all three thresholds.
What the figures on the menu mean
In NSW, the number is the average energy content of each standard food item, in kilojoules, written as ‘kJ’, placed close to the item’s name or price and in at least the same font size as the price. A ‘standard food item’ is one controlled for portion size and content and made to a standard recipe, even if it comes in sizes such as small or large.
The menu is wider than the board above the counter. In NSW it includes printed and digital menus, and digital menus reached through QR codes, self-serve kiosks, apps or webpages. In the ACT, the figure may be rounded to the nearest 10 kJ.
8,700 kJ is an average, not a target
The NSW Government’s healthy eating page says adults need 8,700 kJ a day on average from all foods and drinks, and that your own needs depend on things such as how active you are, your height, weight, age and sex, pregnancy or breastfeeding, genetics and your overall health. For children, it says there is no exact number.
It also warns against reading kilojoules alone. Something low in kilojoules might not be healthier overall: nuts are high in kilojoules but carry nutrients, and diet soft drinks are low in kilojoules but carry none. Drinks count too, and are easy to overlook because they are not as filling as food.
Reading a figure for a whole pizza
The ministerial guideline gives pizza among its examples of a ‘multi-serve item’, one not intended to be eaten by one person, and says energy information should be shown for the whole item and per serving. The guideline is written as direction to Food Standards Australia New Zealand for developing a national measure, so what a menu shows today depends on the law where you are.
The arithmetic is simple: divide the whole-pizza figure by the number of slices, then multiply by the slices you eat. It only works if the slices are even, and it says nothing about the sides and the drink.
Who enforces it
In the ACT, the Health Protection Service enforces the kilojoule display laws and can give advice to consumers as well as businesses. In Victoria, the health department enforces the scheme together with local councils. In NSW, the scheme sits under the Food Act 2003 and the Food Regulation 2025, and its page is published by the Food Authority. Contact details for each state and territory’s food regulator are on FSANZ’s list of food regulatory agencies.