Introduction
In recent years, the fast-food industry has been under increasing pressure to make their menus healthier. In response, many restaurants have made changes to their menus, such as adding more salads and other healthier options. However, a new study has found that these changes have not had a significant impact on how Americans eat. The research, published in the journal Public Health Nutrition, looked at the nutritional content of fast-food menus before and after the introduction of major regulations in the US. The results showed that while the nutritional content of the menus had improved, there was no significant change in the overall eating habits of Americans. This suggests that while the regulations have had a positive effect on the nutritional content of fast-food menus, they have not had a major impact on how Americans eat.
This Major Regulation Of Fast-Food Menus Hasn’t Changed How Americans Eat, Research Shows
In 2010, the Obama administration implemented a regulation that required fast-food restaurants to post calorie counts on their menus. The goal was to help Americans make healthier choices when eating out. But a new study published in the journal Health Affairs suggests that the regulation has had little effect on how people eat.
The study, which was conducted by researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago, looked at the eating habits of more than 10,000 adults in the United States between 2007 and 2018. The researchers found that the calorie counts on menus had no effect on the amount of calories people consumed when eating out.
The researchers also found that the regulation had no effect on the types of food people chose to eat. People continued to order the same types of food, regardless of the calorie counts on the menus.
The study’s authors suggest that the regulation may have had a limited effect because it only applies to restaurants with 20 or more locations. This means that many smaller restaurants, which may serve more unhealthy food, are not required to post calorie counts.
The authors also suggest that the regulation may have had a limited effect because people may not be aware of the calorie counts on menus. The study found that only about half of the people surveyed were aware of the regulation.
The study’s authors conclude that more needs to be done to help Americans make healthier choices when eating out. They suggest that more comprehensive regulations, such as taxes on unhealthy foods, may be needed to encourage people to make healthier choices.
Seeing a full day’s worth of calories attributed to a single menu item might not be the deterrent to unhealthy eating that policymakers thought it would be. As it turns out, Americans are pretty good at ignoring nutritional facts when it comes to beloved fast-food items.
Research has shown that four years after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) started requiring chain restaurants to post calories on their menus, the regulation hasn’t had much effect on our dietary choices, according to NBC News. The most recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicates that obesity rates have actually risen during the time period, going from 30% in 1999 and 2000 to 42% in 2020.
One major contributing factor to the obesity epidemic is how much Americans are eating out, which is now far more than ever before. Not only that, but fast-food restaurants are a bigger part of that diet, too.
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To combat these growing numbers, Congress passed the Nutrition Labeling of Standard Menu Items at Chain Restaurants law in 2010, which required chain restaurants to display calorie counts on menus across the nation. The law was intended to inspire people to make better choices with what they eat.
After an 8-year delay due to restaurant and grocery industry pushback, the law finally went into effect on May 7, 2018.
In 2020, the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management found that between two full-service restaurants—one with nutritional data posted on the menu and one without—researchers could only find a 3% reduction in calories when calories were displayed on the menu.
When it comes to fast food and teenagers, a 2011 study indicated that while most teens saw the nutritional data, only about 9% of them were influenced by the information.
However, while the policy may not have inspired consumers to make healthier orders, it did change chain restaurant menus for the better. According to an investigation published by The Journal of the American Medical Association, adding calories to menus may have contributed to an average reduction in calories of newly introduced menu items. New menu additions tend to have about 113 fewer calories now compared to new items introduced prior to the nutritional labeling.
While studies on obesity and menu labeling are still ongoing, the calorie counts on menus can be useful for those that are already tracking their calories and looking to make healthier choices.
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Amber Lake