The Optimistic Futurist

Calories on restaurant menus cause 71% to order lighter food!

When the City of New York passed a law in 2008 requiring restaurants to include the calories of menu items right on the menu, 82% percent of those who visited the restaurant reported that having the additional information had an impact on their ordering. Of those who considered the nutritional information when they ordered, 71% ordered lower calorie items, and 51% stopped ordering certain items. [i]

Many people do not know how many calories of food they are supposed to eat in a day, and how many calories are contained in food they order in restaurants. A young woman (daily recommended calorie intake around 2000 calories) who virtuously orders a Caesar salad for lunch may be astounded to know they routinely weigh in at 1200 calories – more than half her recommended calorie intake!

Since about 10% of all of America’s health care spending is linked to obesity, stories of successful interventions are important.

This intervention in the obesity problem has the support of the Medical Society of New York, the Litigation Center of The American Medical Association.[ii]

This solution has proven so successful that at least 20 other states and municipalities either have, or are contemplating, similar legislation.

A good source of further information is the Center for The Science in the Public Interest, found at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

[i] http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/nyc_review_fact_sheet.pdf

[ii] http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2009/03/09/prsb0309.htm

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