Nutrition labels in restaurants: Tell us your story!

After a busy day at work, a young couple met at a chain restaurant for dinner. The server seated them and pointed out that next to the menu items were calorie, saturated fat, carbohydrate and sodium counts. Curious, the couple took a closer look at the new nutrition labels.

Have nutrition labels in food and beverage chains influenced what you order for yourself or your child? Public Health researchers want to know! King County food and beverage chains with 15 or more locations nationwide must post nutrition labels in restaurants. (See the March Health Matters newsletter article, “King County makes eating healthier easier”.)

How well is it working? Do people see and use restaurant nutrition labels? If so, what types of people are more likely to use it? Does it matter where the nutrition labels are posted? To answer these questions, researchers at Public Health - Seattle & King County have teamed up with Seattle Children’s Hospital Research Institute and the University of Washington to find out if the nutrition labeling policy helps customers make healthier choices.

Researchers also want to know how the policy affects restaurants. For example, are chain restaurants changing how they promote healthful eating? Are they changing menus to offer healthier menu options or decrease portion sizes?

Does providing nutrition information at the point of purchase affect consumer behavior?

A new research synthesis by Healthy Eating Research provides the latest information on the use of menu labeling in food establishments, such as restaurants and cafeterias, and the potential impact of labeling on consumers’ food and beverage selections. Key findings include:

• Most consumers would like to see nutrition information in the places where they go out to eat.
• The number of U.S. restaurants that provide nutrition information to consumers has increased over the past decade; however, the majority of restaurants do not provide consumers with this information at the point of purchase (e.g., on the menu).
• Most consumers underestimate the number of calories and fat in away-from-home foods and tend to make greater errors when menu items are high in calories or when they are ordering from establishments that promote themselves or their menu items as healthy.
• Requiring restaurants to provide point-of-purchase nutrition information could help reduce obesity by promoting the introduction of healthier menu options.