I was reading Quora and came across this answer in my reader's digest. The question is What are some psychological facts that most people don't know? and the answer has ten items. The one that caught my attention was #7:
- Posting a calorie chart in restaurants leads people to choose less healthy foods.
The other nine items are either things I've already known, or they're plausible. This one, however, is surprising. Is there any evidence to back this up, and if so, what is it?
Considerable time has passed since the question was posted, and the claim has been changed. Now the claim says:
- A calorie chart in restaurants doesn’t lead to healthier choices. After speaking with, and researching my initial answer I feel compelled to change my first response from: A calorie chart in restaurants can lead to less healthy choices, too: A calorie chart in restaurants doesn’t lead to healthier choices.
This is a significant difference to my previous response, and I apologize for any misunderstandings or incorrect assumptions to the readers. The truth is: calorie menus in restaurants don’t lead to “LESS” healthy decisions, it/they simply don’t lead to “better” decisions.
So the claim is that calorie declarations do not lead to better nor to worse choices.
Is this claim supported?
Is seems so. From this Washington Post article there is a link to a study.
A Meta-Analysis to Determine the Impact of Restaurant Menu Labeling on Calories and Nutrients (Ordered or Consumed) in U.S. Adults
Thaisa M. Cantu-Jungles,1 Lacey A. McCormack,2 James E. Slaven,3 Maribeth Slebodnik,4 and Heather A. Eicher-Miller5,*
Abstract
A systematic review and meta-analysis determined the effect of restaurant menu labeling on calories and nutrients chosen in laboratory and away-from-home settings in U.S. adults. Cochrane-based criteria adherent, peer-reviewed study designs conducted and published in the English language from 1950 to 2014 were collected in 2015, analyzed in 2016, and used to evaluate the effect of nutrition labeling on calories and nutrients ordered or consumed. Before and after menu labeling outcomes were used to determine weighted mean differences in calories, saturated fat, total fat, carbohydrate, and sodium ordered/consumed which were pooled across studies using random effects modeling. Stratified analysis for laboratory and away-from-home settings were also completed. Menu labeling resulted in no significant change in reported calories ordered/consumed in studies with full criteria adherence, nor the 14 studies analyzed with ≤1 unmet criteria, nor for change in total ordered carbohydrate, fat, and saturated fat (three studies) or ordered or consumed sodium (four studies). A significant reduction of 115.2 calories ordered/consumed in laboratory settings was determined when analyses were stratified by study setting. Menu labeling away-from-home did not result in change in quantity or quality, specifically for carbohydrates, total fat, saturated fat, or sodium, of calories consumed among U.S. adults.
According to this study, which is quite long and seems fairly rigorous in that unlike other studies it had access to raw data from the retailer, and did not rely on surveys of willing customers, and was funded by the NIH, calorie labelling in fast food restaurants in the southern US resulted in an almost irrelevant increase of 2-6 calories (1%) per item, but a decrease in the number of items purchased of 0.28 items/transaction (5%). However, post-introduction the number of items purchased increased week-on-week
Many other studies are not real world, for example this one with 500+ citations used to justify calorie labelling laws involved recruits who were offered free food. It found a 15% drop in calories.
This metastudy suggests around 7% drop in calories.
Overall the claim that calorie charts cause an overall increase in calorie consumption does not seem to be based in fact; in fact, the opposite. I would add, that while some consumers might choose to consume more calories - for example, if there is a choice between 300 calories of fries for $1.50, or 600 calories for $2, then you might prefer the upsize, it is possible for one group to choose to consume more calories because they are athletic/are sharing food with many people, while others who are obese, might choose to consume less, so the fact that fewer/more calories are consumed, doesn't tell us whether that change is occurring among those who need to consume fewer/more calories.
