Supplementing menu labeling with calorie recommendations to test for facilitation effects.

Area of Science:

• Public Health Nutrition
• Behavioral Economics
• Obesity Prevention

Background:

• Mandatory calorie posting on chain restaurant menus was implemented in New York City in 2008.
• The effectiveness of supplemental calorie recommendations (daily or per-meal) alongside posted information is not well understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the impact of adding daily or per-meal calorie recommendations to mandated menu calorie information on food purchases.
• To assess whether these recommendations influence calorie consumption among chain restaurant patrons.

Main Methods:

• A randomized controlled trial was conducted before and after the implementation of menu calorie posting in two McDonald's locations.
• Adult lunchtime customers (n=1121) were assigned to receive daily, per-meal, or no calorie recommendations.
• Food purchases (receipts) and survey responses were collected; data were analyzed using regression models.

Main Results:

• Posting calorie benchmarks alone had no direct impact on food purchases.
• Calorie recommendations did not moderate the effect of calorie labels.
• Recommendations were associated with a slight increase in calorie intake, driven by higher-calorie entrée purchases.

Conclusions:

• The findings do not support using calorie recommendations to enhance the impact of posted calorie information.
• Calorie recommendations may not be an effective strategy for reducing restaurant-associated calorie consumption or combating obesity.