Looking at a day’s calories resulting from a single menu item may not be a deterrent to an unhealthy diet as policymakers thought. After all, Americans are good at ignoring nutritional content when it comes to beloved fast food products.
According to a survey, four years later Food and Drug Administration According to (FDA) NBC News, we have begun to require chain restaurants to list calories on their menus, but regulations have not significantly affected our dietary choices.Latest report from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention The (CDC) shows that obesity rates actually increased during this period, rising from 30% in 1999 and 2000 to 42% in 2020.
One of the main causes of the obesity epidemic is Americans are eating out, This is far more than ever. Not only that, fast food restaurants are also a big part of that meal.
And don’t miss the most unhealthy steaks in all the popular steakhouse chains
To fight these increasing numbers, Congress Nutrition labeling of standard menu items at chain restaurants A 2010 law required chain restaurants to display calorie counts on national menus.The law is Inspire people to make better choices What they eat.
rear 8 years late Due to the backlash from the restaurant and grocery industry, the law finally came into force on May 7, 2018.
In 2020, Journal of policy analysis and management When calories were displayed on the menu between a restaurant with nutritional data on the menu and two full-service restaurants without it, researchers found that only a 3% reduction in calories was found. I did.
When it comes to fast food And teenagersAccording to a 2011 survey, most teens looked at nutritional data, but only about 9% were affected by the information.
However, while this policy may not have encouraged consumers to place healthy orders, it has changed the menus of chain restaurants to a better one.According to a survey published by Journal of American Medical Association, By adding calories to the menu, we may have been able to reduce the calories of newly introduced menu items on average. The addition of new menus now tends to be about 113 calories less than the new items introduced before nutrition labeling.
Research on obesity and menu labeling is still underway, but menu calorie counts Useful for those who are already tracking calories and are trying to make healthier choices..
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Lake amber
Amber Lake is a staff writer for Eat This, Not That. She holds a degree in journalism from UNF in Jacksonville, Florida.read more
