Do You Rely on the Calorie Counts Provided by Restaurants?

Researchers from the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University conducted a study of 269 restaurant dishes to determine their caloric content and to compare the measured calorie level to the stated calorie level from the restaurant.

On average, the calories posted by the restaurants were accurate. However, out of the 269 samples, 50 dishes contained 100 or more calories than posted; 17 dishes had at least 273 more calories than posted.

See more about the study here: http://yourlife.usatoday.com/fitness-food/diet-nutrition/story/2011/07/Healthy-restaurant-dishes-pack-more-calories-than-expected/49517614/1

What is the take-home message here?

On average, the calorie information posted by restaurants can be helpful when you are trying to make chocies based on that information. However, there are some discrepancies in the information. Listen to your body's hunger and satiation cues. Eat slowly, enjoy the meal and don't "eat by numbers."

Do Calories on the Menu Affect Your Choices?

I am always curious about the many ways that we are influenced to make food choices. In California, state law mandates that calories for all menu items appear on the menu in all restaurants with 20 or more locations.

Looking at the calories on the menu at Chili's, for example, is a changed experience now that the calorie numbers are listed right next to the item name. I mean, I never thought that the Texas cheese fries were a "healthy" choice but I didn't necessarily give much thought to the fact that a half-order of those with ranch dressing would total 1260 calories. Yowsers.

The data on this topic - whether posting calorie info will alter consumer behavior - are mixed. I suppose public health officials would like to believe that knowledge is power and that people will choose more wisely if they know how many calories they are choosing...but some studies suggest otherwise.

What do you think? Do calorie postings affect your choices?