#Restaurants calories counter movie

We analyzed all 23,066 menu items in the sixty-six restaurant chains for which there were data for 2012–14. For the present study, we included data for the 66 restaurant chains that contributed data to MenuStat for all three years available thus far, 2012–14.īased on telephone conversations or e-mail correspondence with representatives of each of the sixty-six restaurant chains, information from news stories and restaurant press releases, and visits to a convenience sample of restaurant venues in the Baltimore, Maryland, and Boston, Massachusetts, areas, we determined that five of the sixty-six chains had introduced voluntary calorie labeling nationally before 2014: Chick-fil-A in 2013, Jamba Juice in 2010, McDonald’s in 2012, Panera in 2010, and Starbucks in 2013. The data include caloric content and other information about menu items from restaurant websites.

12 Briefly, data collection began in 2012 with 66 of the 100 largest US restaurant chains (based on US sales) and has expanded annually. Information about the data set’s collection methods is available elsewhere. We used data from the MenuStat project, which is a census of menu items in most of the 200 largest US restaurant chains. To our knowledge, this is the first study to make such comparisons. 10, 11 We compared the differences between calorie counts in large national chain restaurants that voluntarily implemented labeling of caloric content on their menus to calorie counts at those restaurants that did not. 9Īnticipating federal mandatory menu labeling requirements, several large chain restaurants voluntarily began adding calorie labeling to their menus. 8 Another study demonstrated that the calories in newly introduced menu items at large chain restaurants declined by an average of sixty calories per item (a 12 percent decline) from 2012 to 2013, although very few of these chains voluntarily introduced labeling. One study found that calories in chain restaurant menu items declined in King County, Washington, 7 after the county enacted a local labeling requirement for chain restaurants. Instead of directly changing consumer behavior, menu labeling could encourage restaurants to reformulate current offerings or develop products with fewer calories, leading to lowered calorie consumption by customers. 2 Yet rigorous evaluations of existing state and local menu labeling efforts with control groups and in real-world settings generally have shown either small or no impact on consumer calorie purchases. Policy makers conceptualized menu labeling as a tool to give consumers better information about their food purchases and to help decrease the typically high calorie content of restaurant meals. The rule will be implemented beginning in December 2016.

#Restaurants calories counter movie

The final regulations expanded the proposed rule to include nearly all food establishments, including quick-service and table-service restaurants, grocery stores and superstores, movie theaters, bowling alleys, amusement parks, ice cream shops, and takeout and delivery establishments. 1 The rule requires that calorie information be posted on menus and menu boards in chain restaurants and similar retail food establishments with twenty or more locations nationwide. On November 25, 2014, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued the final rule for implementation of an Affordable Care Act provision that mandates calorie labeling on menus in chain restaurants. Calorie labeling may have important effects on the food served in restaurants by compelling the introduction of lower-calorie items. New menu items introduced in 20 showed a similar pattern. We found that the mean per item calorie content in all years was lower for restaurants that voluntarily posted information about calories (the differences were 139 calories in 2012, 136 in 2013, and 139 in 2014). We compared differences in calorie counts of food items between restaurants that voluntarily implemented national menu labeling and those that did not. This study used data for the period 2012–14 from the MenuStat project, a data set of menu items at sixty-six of the largest US restaurant chains. This increased transparency may be associated with lower overall calorie content of offered items. But before the federal mandate kicks in, several large chain restaurants have begun to voluntarily display information about the calories in the items on their menus. Beginning in December 2016, calorie labeling on menus will be mandatory for US chain restaurants and many other establishments that serve food, such as ice cream shops and movie theaters.