Calorie information in restaurants helps curb eating

A new study carried out by the National Bureau of Economic Research has shown that diners tend to order food with about 3 percent fewer calories when the nutritional information is listed on their menus.

According to Healthline, a recent law passed by the Food and Drug Administration means that restaurants and grocery stores that have at least 20 locations will be required to list this calorie information for standard menu items. This is part of a strategy to help reduce the obesity epidemic in America which now affects almost 70 percent of adults.

In the Bureau study, participants overwhelmingly commented that they valued having the information listed on the menu. For example, a regular fried chicken sandwich from Chick-Fil-A has 440 calories while the grilled version has only 310. A consumer interested in reducing calories can save 30 percent just by switching one menu item.

Restaurants in the study saw no difference in their revenue, profits, or labor expenditures when they included the calorie counts on the menus.

The study also found that even the chefs themselves were surprised by the number of calories in their food.