The Impact of Restaurant Menu Eco Labels on Consumer Meal Selections: An RCT

Area of Science:

• Environmental Science
• Nutritional Science
• Behavioral Science

Background:

• Food systems contribute significantly to global greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE).
• Sustainable diets are often healthier, presenting an opportunity to improve public health and environmental outcomes.
• Climate labels on menus may influence consumer choices towards lower-impact and more nutritious options.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of different climate label designs on restaurant menus.
• To determine how labels influence the selection of healthier meals and lower climate impact food choices.
• To compare the impact of Numeric, Climate Grade, Traffic Light, and Warning labels against a control.

Main Methods:

• An online randomized controlled trial (RCT) was conducted in 2024 with 6,221 US adults.
• Participants were randomized to view menus with control or one of four climate label types (Numeric, Grade, Traffic Light, Warning).
• Outcomes measured were meal nutritional quality (Nutrient Profile Index score) and meal-specific GHGE (kgCO2e).

Main Results:

• Traffic Light and Warning labels led to significantly healthier meal choices (higher NPI scores) compared to the control.
• All tested climate labels significantly reduced the greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE) of selected meals.
• The Traffic Light label group achieved the lowest meal GHGE, followed closely by the Warning label group.

Conclusions:

• Interpretive climate labels, especially Traffic Light and Warning designs, are effective tools.
• These labels can simultaneously enhance the nutritional quality and decrease the climate impact of restaurant meal selections.
• Climate labeling presents a viable strategy for promoting sustainable and healthy eating patterns.