In an effort to reduce obesity, New York City has instituted a law requiring restaurant chains to post the calories in foods. Some professors from New York University and Yale, tracked the results at the major fast food chains in poor neighborhoods of NYC where there is a higher incidence of obesity.
What they found out:
• Half customers noticed the calorie count
• 28% of those that noticed said the information influenced their purchase.
• 9 out of 10 of those said they made healthier choices.
What is interesting, is that when the researches checked the receipts they found that the people had actually ordered slightly more calories than the typical customer had before the labeling law went into effect!
• NYC customers had a mean 846 calories after labeling law, before the law it was 825 calories.
• In Newark, it was 825 calories before and after.
Labeling laws, are they effective? Apparently not.
Labeling is also being tossed around in Obama’s health package.
Price and quantity more important than health and quality.
More info at NY TIMES
