This article evaluates the impact of a menu labeling regulation in King County, Wash., on calories purchased and awareness and use of labels six and 18 months after implementation. Like prior studies, researchers found no significant changes in calories purchased six months after implementation, but found a modest decrease in the calories purchased after 18 months, particularly among women and customers of taco and coffee chains. The average calories per purchase at food chain restaurants fell by 38 calories, from 908.5 to 870.4 calories and at coffee chains by 22 calories, from 154.3 to 132.1 calories among prepared beverages. After implementation, food chain customers who used calorie information purchased fewer calories (143 calories less) compared to those seeing but not using the information and those not seeing (135 calories less) and awareness of calorie information increased in food chains (18.8% to 61.7%) and coffee chains (4.4% to 30%).
Menu Labeling Regulations and Calories Purchased at Chain Restaurants
Related Research
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Energy, Saturated Fat, and Sodium Were Lower in Entrees at Chain Restaurants at 18 Months Compared with 6 Months Following the Implementation of Mandatory Menu Labeling Regulation in King County, Washington
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October 2008
Evaluating the Impact of Point-of-Purchase Nutrition Information at Chain Restaurants
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