Enhancing the Effectiveness of Food Labeling in Restaurants

Blumenthal, Karen; Volpp, Kevin G.

doi:10.1001/jama.2010.85

Cited by 48 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…According to Blumenthal & Volpp [30]; Lee et al [31], despite calorie content being a simple format, consumers may find it difficult to understand and not be familiar with the ideal amount of calories they should consume daily.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Preferences for menu labelling formats of young adults in Brazil and in the United Kingdom

et al. 2017

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Objective This pilot study was aimed at exploring preferences of young adults in two different contexts on restaurant menu labelling formats. Methods Five focus groups were conducted with 36 participants, two focus groups with 11 participants in Brazil and three focus groups with 25 in the United Kingdom. Themes originating from the content analysis of the transcriptions were organised around four possible menu labelling formats: 1) numerical information on calories; 2) numerical information on calories and nutrients; 3) traffic light system plus Guideline Daily Amounts; 4) food information with ingredients list plus highlighted symbols. Results In both countries, participants preferred the ingredients list plus symbols format, considered more comprehensive and useful to make an informed food choice. Organic food and vegetarian symbols were the ones considered most important to appear on restaurant menu labels with ingredients list. However, most participants in Brazil and in the United Kingdom rejected the information restricted to calories and calories plus nutrients formats, saying that these would not influence their own choices. Conclusion This is the first multicultural qualitative study exploring preferences of people living in different countries with different eating habits, but where menu labelling is voluntary. Results evidenced similarities in participants’ likes and dislikes for menu labelling formats in these two different contexts. Discussions showed participants in both countries prefer qualitative information than numerical information, suggesting that ingredients list and symbols provide information that people want to see on the menu.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Preferences for menu labelling formats of young adults in Brazil and in the United Kingdom

et al. 2017

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“…We therefore broadened our search to include the following keywords: "calorie labeling", "menu labeling" and "point-of-purchase labeling". We supplemented our findings with hand searches from the reference lists of articles and reviews [7,11-15]. …”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Calorie menu labeling on quick-service restaurant menus: an updated systematic review of the literature

Swartz

Braxton

Viera

2011

Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act

225

183

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Nutrition labels are one strategy being used to combat the increasing prevalence of overweight and obesity in the United States. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 mandates that calorie labels be added to menu boards of chain restaurants with 20 or more locations. This systematic review includes seven studies published since the last review on the topic in 2008. Authors searched for peer-reviewed studies using PUBMED and Google Scholar. Included studies used an experimental or quasi-experimental design comparing a calorie-labeled menu with a no-calorie menu and were conducted in laboratories, college cafeterias, and fast food restaurants. Two of the included studies were judged to be of good quality, and five of were judged to be of fair quality. Observational studies conducted in cities after implementation of calorie labeling were imprecise in their measure of the isolated effects of calorie labels. Experimental studies conducted in laboratory settings were difficult to generalize to real world behavior. Only two of the seven studies reported a statistically significant reduction in calories purchased among consumers using calorie-labeled menus. The current evidence suggests that calorie labeling does not have the intended effect of decreasing calorie purchasing or consumption.

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“…Additionally, preordering programs can help individuals alter their typical food choices towards more healthy alternatives. Individuals tend to stay with a typical or default option (Blumenthal & Volpp, 2010;Loewenstein, Brennan, & Volpp, 2007;Volpp et al, 2006) and are less apt to specify alternatives to their usual choices (Kamenica, 2012;Madrian & Shea, 2001;Thaler & Mullainathan, 2008). Pre-ordering systems can be designed specifically to make the default option the healthiest of the choices.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%