Report: Calories on menus could be making fast food lighter

by Inquirer Staff Writer

Published Nov. 5, 2015, 12:01 p.m. ET

Planning to grab some fast food for lunch today?

Even if you carefully ignore the calorie counts posted at many chain restaurants, the simple fact that they exist may mean you are getting a more diet-friendly meal.

That's the conclusion of a new study in the journal Health Affairs that looked at what has happened to the offerings at major U.S. chain restaurants in the past few years as calorie counts have grown more popular. Other studies have found that most of us (70 percent, to be specific) ignore that information. Yet restaurants appear to be paying close attention, researchers from Johns Hopkins, the University of Pittsburgh, and Harvard Medical School found. (Read the abstract here: http://content.healthaffairs.org/content/34/11/1877.abstract)

As part of the Affordable Care Act, calorie labeling will be mandatory for large chain restaurants and some other establishments starting in December 2016.

Comparing calorie counts of items from restaurants that already label their menus and those that haven't, the researchers found that the average standard menu item had 120 fewer calories when the information is posted. The difference is even greater – about 146 calories – for newly introduced menu items.

Why is this happening? Researchers note their study doesn't show causation, but they speculate menu items might get be getting lighter out of concern for the backlash among the 30 percent of consumers who do read the calorie lists. Media attention to famously unhealthy menu items could be another factor. So could good old-fashioned competition among the chains.

One thing's for sure: If fast food gets healthier it could have a big impact, given that every day, a third of all Americans eat at such restaurants, researchers wrote.