Calories on Menus Do Little to Change Eating Habits
Have you noticed that most restaurants and Fast Food
establishments are now posting calories on their menus? A government mandate
of calorie labelling in fast food and other chain restaurants became effective
May 2018. Any restaurant or food outlet with
20 or more locations has to post calorie counts of menu items. The calorie labelling of menu items was
supposed to help us choose menu items more wisely. So, is it working? Are people choosing what to eat based on the
calories posted? Recently in Costco, my
husband and I were looking at the menu
and the appetizing pictures of the Italian Sausage Sandwich vs the Hot Turkey
and Provolone Sandwich. One would think the
sausage would have the most calories but not so. The Hot Turkey & Provolone Sandwich was
labeled a whopping 740 calories vs. 610 calories for the Italian Sausage
Sandwich.
Does it work? Do
people cut back on calories when each menu item shows how many calories the
sandwich, the fries, each item has? One
would think so. A study
in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) looked
at how well posting calories on menu items in Fast Food chains led customers to
eating less calories. But, according to
the BMJ study, at first some people did cut back on the calories in foods they
purchased once the mandatory labeling occurred but now not so much. Recently, the NBC news channel interviewed
people to ask them if they even noticed the calories posted by menu items. One lady responded, she never noticed. Luckily, there was a very fit-looking man
that says he pays attention to the posted calories and uses the information to
make healthier choices.
After studying purchases of main entrees, sides, sugar-sweetened beverages
(e.g. sodas, sweet tea), low calorie beverages and condiments customers ordered
over a three-year period (before and after the mandatory labeling), what were
their findings? At first, calories on menus did lead to a decrease of
about “60 calories per transaction”. People chose to cut
back on the fries and desserts. There was a reduction in calories but
only an overall reduction of 4% of total calories in the food purchased.
But by the end of the study period, they found customers reduced calories by
only 23 fewer calories per purchase. Studies
have found that when we eat out, we eat more calories as many restaurant meals
provide larger servings and more calories than we would eat at home. Now other countries like the United Kingdom are wondering if they even should adopt our government mandate of having calories posted on menus. The authors of the study do claim that even small reductions in calorie intakes can be helpful and the calories on menus may help in the fight against obesity.
Why doesn't the posting of calories have more of an impact? One reason is that many people have no idea how many calories they should be eating each day. They don't know if a 740 -calorie Hot Turkey and Provolone Sandwich is a lot of calories. The Dietary Guidelines estimate that adult women's calorie needs range from 1,600-2400 a day and adult men need 2,000-3,000 calories a day. Calorie needs per day vary depending on how active you are. Knowing this, an adult woman needing 1,600 calories a day would realize that a 740-calorie sandwich plus a soda and dessert would be almost about all the calories she needs for the day, yet it was only for one meal. My husband noted that many people also don't know how low in calories fruits and vegetables are. A medium apple has only about 80 calories vs. 230 calories for small fries at a fast food chain. (To look up calories in food a good source to use is nutritiondata.)
Being a nutritionist, I can’t help but notice the posted
calories and do take the information into consideration when making a food purchase. But, many people don’t. How about you? Do you notice and use the posted calorie
information? Has the calorie information influenced
what you order when eating out?
Sources: mandate,
cut
, study,
Studies,
Guidelines
, apple
, fries
, nutritiondata Image sources: Costco , Menu,
FDA
FDA recommends: Know Your Options When Eating Out |
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