Menu-labeling laws are changing food purchases in New York City, study finds

People are consuming fewer calories at many New York fast-food restaurants.

The mean number of calories purchased per customer decreased at nine of 13 fast-food or coffee chains, according to a study presented today by researchers from the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

The agency was looking to see if there was any meaningful reduction in calorie consumption from New York’s menu-labeling laws that went into effect in March 2008. They presented preliminary data today at the annual meeting of the Obesity Society in Washington, D.C.

The study found that the decreases were statistically significant at four of the chains: McDonald’s, KFC, Au Bon Pain and Starbucks. People purchased more at four other chains, but the study's authors said there was only one chain -- Subway -- where the increase was statistically significant.

A similar California law will make chain restaurants post calorie information on menus starting in 2011. Some restaurant chains in California are already printing the information on their menus.

An earlier study by New York University researchers that looked at consumers in low-income and minority neighborhoods found that calorie information on menus may increase awareness of calorie content but had less of an effect on the number of calories people purchase. They New York City study authors said they believed their result was different because their sample size was much larger and more representative of the city's entire population.

Paying attention seems to be the biggest factor in whether people choose less caloric offerings. Customers who said they saw and acted on posted calorie information purchased 106 fewer calories than those who did not notice or did not use the information.

The city agency surveyed more than 10,000 customers at 275 locations of 13 different fast-food and coffee chains throughout the city in the spring of 2007 and over 12,000 in 2009, nearly a year after the requirements began.

The New York researchers said people most likely purchased more calories at Subway than they had previously because of a recession-related promotion. The number of customers buying 12-inch sandwiches at the chain rose from 28% to 73%. This shift happened as Subway launched its $5 foot-long sandwich promotion, something the researchers said suggests that the slimming effects of calorie labeling may be overcome by intensive marketing of large portion sizes.

“Dietary change is likely to come gradually; it will start with consumers interested in making informed, healthy eating decisions and we hope industry will respond by offering more healthier choices and appropriate portion sizes,” said Lynn Silver, an assistant commissioner at the agency.

The study was funded by Healthy Eating Research, a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

-- Jerry Hirsch
Twitter.com/LATimesJerry

Photo: A New York Taco Bell posts calories on its menu board. Credit: Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times

Comments

[LanaLaRouche]

I see a future where as they ring your order up, it will also show the calorie count total. it will also print the calorie total on your receipt. In the far, far future, when the government controls healthcare and everything else, you will have a card that you swipe. When your alloted calories for the day are used up, you wont be able to purchase more food until the next day...

[Dr. Ronald Rosenburg]

I can tell you for a fact that even though people appear to be ordering lower calorie items, most people are not satiated and end up eating MORE later at home in private or on a SECOND trip to a fast-food chain than if they just ordered what they wanted in the first place. When the obesity rate in the US starts to level off and go down then we might be able to celebrate, but at this point, these regulations are counter-productive and damaging. People are, for the most part, incapable of sustained self-control.