Calorie Counts on Menus Save Lives
The benefits of knowing what you are ordering.
Federal regulations requiring fast-food restaurants to list calorie counts on menus may have helped prevent at least 16,000 deaths from 13 different obesity-related cancers, and averted nearly $3 billion in cancer-related health care spending, according to a study published in BMJ Open. In other research from the University of California, Davis, added-sugar warning labels on menus reduced the probability of customers ordering a high-added-sugar item by 2.2%.
Given the frequency of restaurant food consumption in America, these modest effects could lead to meaningful changes in sugar intake at the population level.
See also: Calories in Restaurant Menu Items
Matthew Kadey, MS, RD
Matthew Kadey, MS, RD, is a James Beard Award–winning food journalist, dietitian and author of the cookbook Rocket Fuel: Power-Packed Food for Sport + Adventure (VeloPress 2016). He has written for dozens of magazines, including Runner’s World, Men’s Health, Shape, Men’s Fitness and Muscle and Fitness.
