Would Requiring Nutrition and Calorie Labeling in Restaurants Make a Difference to Consumers?
Amid calls from public health and consumer advocacy groups for legislation that would require nutrition and calorie labeling on menus at fast-food and similar types of restaurants, a survey by researchers at the University of Vermont found significant numbers of people do not look at food labels now, and many are unable to use the information the labels contain. Telephone surveys of more than 600 adults and more than 300 college students found that “approximately half of the surveyed college students and a third of the individuals in the community sample reported that they did not generally look at food labels,” according to the researchers. In addition, the surveys found two-thirds of the participants were unable to identify the number of calories they should be consuming each day, and 44 percent to 57 percent of the combined sample “self-reported that they would not likely use restaurant food caloric information,” according to the researchers. The findings suggest labeling legislatio
Related Questions
- Are there legal barriers to requiring restaurants to provide nutrition information? Does the First Amendment protect restaurants from such laws?
- Would Requiring Nutrition and Calorie Labeling in Restaurants Make a Difference to Consumers?
- Why is FDA requiring that trans fatty acids be listed in nutrition labeling?
