Do calories on menus make a difference?
- B. Moore
- Sep 30, 2018
- 1 min read
Under the Affordable Care Act of 2010, researchers analyzed how restaurant franchises were required to display the calorie counts of each meal offered as an added service to their patrons.
California, Massachusetts, and Oregon and some major cities, such as New York City, Philadelphia, and Seattle require full-scaled restaurants provide detailed caloric menus with nutrition values. During an eight-year study, researchers investigated if the dietary choices of patrons are influenced by the caloric counts displayed on menus and dashboards of the restaurant franchises.
Researchers observed the behavior patterns of 5,500 customers ordering from two full scaled eateries on two separate college grounds. In both locations, inconsistently patrons were handed menus with or without caloric values. In result, the patrons who received the menu with caloric values ordered the less caloric items available. The difference was not as significant as researchers hoped, but the results illustrated customers are becoming more aware of calories consumed. However, results revealed patrons from both groups preferred menus with calorie counts.
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