Diners may order slightly less thanks to calorie counts on menus

A study published as a report issued by the National Bureau of Economic Research, a private nonprofit research organization, suggests that the U.S. legislation mandating calorie counts on menus may be having a positive impact on calorie intake.

Following the passage of the U.S. Affordable Care Act of 2010, chain restaurants with 20 or more franchises must now list a meal’s calorie count on their menus and order boards. And some cities and states—including New York City, Philadelphia, and Seattle, and all of California, Massachusetts, and Oregon—have gone a step further, imposing broad calorie label mandates in full-service restaurants.

The researchers provide a snapshot of the ordering habits in two full-service, sit-down restaurants, both of which were located on a university campus. Dining parties were randomly given a menu with or without calorie-count labels. About 43% of the study participants were men and the average age was 34. Appetizers contained 200–910 calories, entrees contained 580–1,840 calories, and desserts contained 420–1,150 calories. Drinks ranged from 100 to 370 calories.

“We conducted an experiment with over 5,500 diners in real-world restaurants and found that calorie labels led customers to order 3% fewer calories,” said study author John Cawley, a professor in the departments of policy analysis and management, and economics at Cornell University. The drop amounted to about 45 fewer calories consumed per meal.

Beyond the 3% calorie drop linked to the labeling, the researchers also found that consumer support for labeling went up by almost 10% among patrons who were given labeled menus. And restaurant revenue did not seem to be affected by the type of menu offered.

Interestingly, the reduction was mainly attributed to the appetizer and entrée portions of the meals, not the desserts. “Before we started, I expected that people would reduce calories in desserts, but they didn’t,” said Cawley. He hypothesized that people may have already known that desserts are high-calorie but may have been surprised by the number of calories in appetizers and entrees.

Cawley calculated that over a three-year period, the calorie cut would lead to weight loss in the range of one pound. “Not large, but it’s also a cheap policy, and philosophically it’s attractive to allow people to make informed decisions,” said Cawley.

Abstract