Nutrition? Consumers Want Full Disclosure
There's a bit of nutritional irony in nearly every quick-serve order: People don't put their money where their mouths are. Offer a fried chicken sandwich and a grilled one, and they'll choose the greasier one. French fries with that, or fruit salad? Um, well...most people choose the fries.
People talk healthy but usually don't eat that way in restaurants. (There are plenty of studies showing consumers think of home-cooking as the place to be health-conscious.)
Now a recent study from industry analyst Technomic Inc. shows a strong majority of consumers back new regulations that would require restaurants to make big changes to their nutrition disclosure practices.
Technomic's NUTRITRACK study of 2,500 American adults showed, in particular, that 74 percent of adults said they support new regulations requiring restaurants to provide a section on all menus or menu boards showing complete nutritional information for all items served.
Similarly, Technomic said, 71 percent of adults said they support new regulations that would require restaurants to show the number of calories contained in each food item on the menu or menu board next to its price.
I think seeing the hard numbers would definitely affect what I order. Imagine you're considering two sandwiches, and the turkey variety has more than 800 calories. Add a bag of chips and a drink and that's half of what the average woman should eat in a day. But if the numbers aren't in front of you, that count is literally out of sight, out of mind.
How about you? Would you want to require restaurants to disclose nutrition information—which they already have on hand—more prominently? If those numbers were highly visible, would it change your order?
