Calorie count dip dwindles for fast food
Soon after calories were posted on fast-food menus, people cut back a little bit on what they ordered. But it didn’t last.
Customers at fast-food chains in Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas ordered an average of 60 fewer calories per transaction in the weeks after the figures were displayed, according to a study published this week in the medical journal, BMJ. That amounted to a 4 percent drop, and declines came largely from extras such as fries and desserts.
After about a year, the drop was down to 23 calories.
Since orders likely included food for multiple people, the impact per person might be even smaller. But the decreases are averages and some people may have made bigger cuts while others didn’t make any, said study co-author Joshua Petimar of Harvard’s School of Public Health.
It’s the latest effort at sizing up how calorie counts influence what people order. A national law that went into effect last year requires chains with 20 or more locations to post calories. Some places, including New York City and California, imposed similar rules years ago to combat obesity. The idea is to give people information to make better choices.
Past research has suggested calorie counts lead to modest or no changes, and Wednesday’s study suggests that also seems to be the case in the South, where obesity rates tend to be higher.
The findings were based on sales data from 104 fast-food locations over three years.