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?
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