Calorie Labeling And Food Choices: A First Look At The Effects On Low-Income People In New York City

Elbel, Brian; Kersh, Rogan; Brescoll, Victoria L.; Dixon, L. Beth

doi:10.1377/hlthaff.28.6.w1110

Cited by 414 publications

(356 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…For instance, to combat the so called "obesity epidemic" in the US, the ("Obamacare") Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 has mandated that, starting in 2013, chain restaurants post calorie counts on their menus. But studies of a similar mandate enacted by New York City in 2008 have found that menu labeling has little or no impact on food consumption (Borgmeier and Westenhoefer, 2009;Elbel et al, 2009Elbel et al, , 2011Vadiveloo et al,2011). Strategic self-ignorance could help explain why labeling does little to encourage healthier choices.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Strategic self-ignorance

et al. 2016

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Strategic self-ignorance

et al. 2016

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“…1,2 Americans now consume an estimated one third of their total calories 3 and spend almost half their annual food dollars on foods prepared outside the home. 4 Consumers, however, are generally unaware of, or inaccurately estimate, the number of calories in restaurant foods.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although the FDA has been thorough and thoughtful in the solicitation and consideration of stakeholder comments, it remains a problematic challenge, because published research to date has produced inconsistent findings about the ideal format and overall efficacy of calorie postings in restaurants. 2,5,[6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] For example, two recent studies in adjoining counties in Washington State produced inconclusive results. Pulos and Leng 17 evaluated the calorie content of meals ordered before and after menu labeling laws were instituted in Pierce County (population 814,600), revealing significant differences in food purchasing behavior with a reduction in calories purchased after the menu-posting legislation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Calorie Postings in Chain Restaurants in a Low-Income Urban Neighborhood: Measuring Practical Utility and Policy Compliance

Cohn¹,

Larson²,

Araujo³

et al. 2012

J Urban Health

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Current strategies for combating obesity include recent federal legislation mandating calorie count postings in chain restaurants. This study describes the current practice of menu board calorie postings in a low-income urban neighborhood, identifies the extent to which current practice complies with existing policy, and evaluates the practical utility of menu boards to consumers. We conclude that although most postings were legally compliant, they did not demonstrate utility. Menu postings for individual servings are easily understood, but complex math skills are needed to interpret meals designed to serve more than one person. In some items, calories doubled depending on flavor and the calorie posting did not give enough information to make healthier selections. We identified specific strategies to improve practical utility and provide recommendations for policy implementation.

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“…There are several possible reasons for that: First, people only chose items for themselves in this experiment (no sharing or orders for multiple people); second, most menus excluded drinks (a decision made for feasibility given time constraints); and finally, only the Pizza and Mexican menus allowed for ordering multiple items. For comparison, Dumanovsky et al (2011) and Elbel et al (2009) report means of 800 kcal in fast-food restaurants. Using data from a large coffee chain, Bollinger, Leslie, and Sorensen (2011) report average drink calories per transaction of 143 kcal, slightly below the average in our experiment.…”

Section: Food Selection and Response Patternsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Examining Consumer Responses to Calorie Information on Restaurant Menus in a Discrete Choice Experiment

Huang¹,

Tsang²,

Hiatt³

et al. 2018

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Limited Print and Electronic Distribution RightsThis document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law. This representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for noncommercial use only. Unauthorized posting of this publication online is prohibited. Permission is given to duplicate this document for personal use only, as long as it is unaltered and complete. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of its research documents for commercial use. For information on reprint and linking permissions, please visit www.rand.org/pubs/permissions.The RAND Corporation is a research organization that develops solutions to public policy challenges to help make communities throughout the world safer and more secure, healthier and more prosperous. RAND is nonprofit, nonpartisan, and committed to the public interest.RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors.Support RAND Make a tax-deductible charitable contribution at www.rand.org/giving/contribute www.rand.org For more information on this publication, visit www.rand.org/t/RR1957 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available for this publication. ISBN: 978-0-8330-9838-2Published by the RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, Calif. © Copyright 2018 RAND CorporationR® is a registered trademark.iii PrefaceThe Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services undertook this research to evaluate how providing calorie information on restaurant menus affects consumer choice. The 2014 U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) final rule titled "Food Labeling: Nutrition Labeling of Standard Menu Items in Restaurants and Similar Retail Food Establishments" requires restaurants and similar retail food establishments that are part of a chain with 20 or more locations doing business under the same name and offering for sale substantially the same menu items to provide calorie and other nutrition information for menu items. This rule applies to standard menu items, including food on display and self-service food, and creates a nationwide, uniform requirement for displaying calorie information. This is the final report on two tasks set out by ASPE in the contract: (1) developing and fielding the consumer-choice experiment and analyzing the resulting data to evaluate the potential effect of providing calorie information according to FDA menu labeling rules on consumer choice (addressed in Chapters One through Five); and (2) evaluation of menu changes over time (addressed in Chapter Six).This work was sponsored by the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation under contract HHSP23320095649WC and task order HHSP23337037T, for which Amber Jessup serves as the contracting officer's representative. The research was conducted in RAND Health, a division of the RAND Corporation. A profile of RAND Health, abstracts of its publications, and ordering information can be found at www.rand.org/health. (FDA, 20...

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Calorie Labeling And Food Choices: A First Look At The Effects On Low-Income People In New York City

Cited by 414 publications

References 33 publications

Strategic self-ignorance

Strategic self-ignorance

Calorie Postings in Chain Restaurants in a Low-Income Urban Neighborhood: Measuring Practical Utility and Policy Compliance

Examining Consumer Responses to Calorie Information on Restaurant Menus in a Discrete Choice Experiment

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