Menus with Calorie Counts May Prompt Healthier Offerings

Restaurants that list calorie counts on their menus offer more lower-calorie choices than those that don’t provide such information. An analysis of menus from one hundred of the largest chain restaurants in the United States found those with voluntary calorie labeling averaged 140 fewer calories per selection. Co-author Dr. Julia Wolfson writes, “The biggest impact from mandatory menu labeling may come from restaurants decreasing the calories in their menu items rather than expecting consumers to notice the calorie information and, subsequently, order different menu items… Given how often Americans eat in restaurants, if more chain restaurants decrease calories on their menus to a level that we are seeing in restaurants that already label, this has the potential to reduce population-level obesity.”
Health Affairs, November 2015