The delay is NOT the demise of menu labeling

The FDA has granted restaurants and similar retail establishments a delay in posting calorie amounts  -  how that delay actually came about and why, warrants some clarification.

The National Restaurant Industry, like the National Automatic Merchandising Association for vending machines, supports calorie disclosures on menus and menu boards as mandated for large (20 or more) chain restaurants. Large chain restaurants are probably ready to roll with the disclosures - several cities and at least 1 state already have calorie (+) disclosure laws in place (though they are preempted by the federal law). It is not likely that restaurants need or even want the delay, after all, the industry(through its trade group) supported the federal law; a nationwide, preemptive law is good for them.

What is really going on is that the 'similar retail establishments,' ones that sell ready to eat food as a major part of their enterprise, for example, grocery stores, movie theatres, bowling alleys, convenience stores, tried to get out of the mandate. Once they realized the law did indeed apply to them, they asked for and received more time to get their act together.

I do not see the delay as a bad thing and I do not read it as the demise of the legislation. Too many big players AND consumers want calorie displays across the many places where food choices are made. 

Including the similar retail establishments (and vending machines) in the law makes it 1) fair to the sellers of the food - why should some have to disclose and other not? and 2) easier - possible - for us to monitor our calorie intake if we so choose. Whether we will choose to do it or understand how to do it, is a separate discussion.

Researchers and proponents of the law do not know if calorie disclosure by itself is going to change the behavior of people most in need of changing their behavior (i.e., people who exceed their average daily calorie needs), but it makes it possible and before we can do anything else (e.g., tell people how many calories, from which types of foods, are too many), we have to put the information out there. The early positive change that I, and many others envision, is that the retailers are going to reformulate recipes or reduce serving sizes in order to 'present' calorie counts that are more reasonable. Hey, there is a thought, maybe one of the things that 'similar retail establishments' will do with their extra year is reduce calories  - say in that bucket of popcorn!

Anyway, I am not disheartened and as a researcher, I hope to take advantage of the extra time to conceptualize some new evaluation studies!

Seen about town, ads pushing calorie dense items and calorie disclosures, etc

It was really challenging to come up with a title for this blog post, which is a good sign that I am trying to say too much in one post. Nonetheless, I am stubborn and have been holding on to these photos and these thoughts for at least a month.

First, calorie disclosures are coming, they will be the law of the land, but probably not fully so until 2016. In other words, the congress persons representing businesses will get the law delayed, but they will not get it appealed (I understand from my sources).

Second, it is becoming clear that 'a calorie is a calorie' is not quite true - even for weight. You may recall a post from me some years ago that implied that as far as weight was concerned 1800 calories of twinkie are the same as 1800 calories of vegetables. I went on to say, and this part remains true, that a person will be a lot healthier and feel much better if they refrain from eating 1800 calories of twinkie. I think we've all known that the body handles macronutrients differently, i.e., refined carbs are metabolized differently than fats or fibers - but more recently science has established that the number of calories might be the same in say a twinkie and a piece of salmon, but once our body digests and metabolizes these foods, the calorie end point is not the same.

Some people have suggested that calorie monitoring may be less necessary, and to that point I strongly disagree.  Many people who have lost weight and kept if off do eat better and maintain high levels of exercise but they also remain vigilant to consuming a sensible range of calories.

I am not abandoning calorie monitoring. However, I am not involved in research on metabolism - nor am I a nutritionist-  so I will stick to watching what happens when calorie disclosure laws go into effect. For example, I anticipate changes in availability of lower calorie options and changes in purchasing behavior. I am not going to keep trying to describe the science on the relationship between calories and weight gain. Instead, I assure you that we cannot eat with reckless abandon and many of our away from home meal purchases are ridiculously high in those wrong kind of calories.

Now my pictures and why I chose to take and share these in particular.

This ad was presented to me while I was listening to Pandora Radio - not so targeted considering I am a calorie controlled vegetarian!

I was 'exposed' to this ad on the Philly transit bus;  a bargain for two high calorie items. PLUS I am a NYG fan :)

You may have heard that grocery stores do not want to put calorie labels on their prepared food; that is unfair to restaurants and leaves customers lacking important information for food choices. 

Manufacturers update their labels from time to time, they may reformulate a product which changes the calorie amount, they may change the serving size which would change the calorie amount or they may fear scrutiny and revisit the accuracy of their label. These side by side boxes are both Jacobsens Blueberry Snack Toasts, but the calories INCREASED from 40 each to 45 each. Everything else appears to be the same. When I find older version with less calories listed, I buy them, but I am just fooling myself!

This is my favorite!  This restaurant is in Philadelphia where a calorie disclosure law has been in place for several years. The menus also have to display sodium/salt content. This is one positive outcome of calorie disclosures! 

The proliferation of calorie disclosures

In one of my recent posts, I mentioned that calorie declarations for restaurant items were beginning to show up on TV and in web based ads. It appears that the industry is gearing up for the calorie disclosure mandate that goes into effect this December (see the Final Rules for ACA sect 4205[1]).  I have noticed that up-front calorie disclosures are becoming more prevalent in grocery stores as well.

The grocery store calorie proliferation is likely due to several factors, including the Affordable Care Act’s wide reaching mandate. Food manufacturers began adding front of pack labels some years ago (with declarations THEY are comfortable with, i.e., not every manufacturer includes calories or sugar amounts on the front of every one of their products), but one voluntary version Facts Up Front does provide info on calories and select nutrients, and it has potential.  If you click on the link above, you can scroll through some of the examples. As an example, I have noticed that most sliced bread brands have Facts Up Front labels now - with the calories displayed - but BE CAREFUL sometimes its calories per 2 slices and sometimes per 1 slice. The Institute of Medicine has recommended a standardized, mandatory front of pack label with an interpretive design, for example, 3 stars vs 1 star (I wrote about this recommendation a few years ago).  I believe that the more customers see calorie disclosures, the more they will demand them - up-front.  (The new calorie disclosure law is about ready-to-eat foods at grocery stores, restaurants and similar establishments, not packaged foods. But again, people are now expecting to see calories more easily because of laws like this.)

One of the issues in labeling, especially for packaged or self-serving foods (e.g., ice cream), is a push to present easily, or commonly, understood serving sizes.  The serving sizes (usually) accompany the calorie counts on front labels, e.g., half a cup, 2 tablespoons. I think it would be a disservice to customers, however, not to also include the weight in grams or number of ounces of that particular ½-cup or tablespoon; a ½- cup of one item may not be commensurate with ½ a cup of another item.  Recently, I was choosing between cookie brands. For each brand, the calorie amount per 3-cookie serving was 130, but the serving for one brand had 20 grams and the other had 30 grams, so in essence, I would get to eat MORE food for the same calories if I chose the heavier product. I owe my ‘per unit’ calorie comparisons to lessons I have gleaned from using UPC shelf labels, price per ounce, as I’ve mentioned in the past. 

I think that emphasizing serving size can also be context specific.  One place it makes sense for the majority of people to see calories per serving ‘size’ instead of serving ‘weight’ is the vending machine.  I say this because, the usual serving size of a snack purchased from a vending machine, or the amount customarily consumed, is the whole package. The package is the serving size.  Most people intend to eat all the M&MS, Fritos, or Lays, so by scanning across all products and knowing how many cals per pack, a person can, if they choose, pick the lowest calorie package and be done with it.  (In time, I suspect, savvy customers will figure out that even here, they can get more or less calories per package based on weight/volume.)

So that is very cool.  Calories are showing up more (this is good for people who are trying to limit calories or who simply want to choose items with fewer calories - can’t do it if you don’t know the numbers!).  The national law (again see ACA section 4205) covers more than foods – restaurant chains under the laws jurisdiction will also have to display calories for their alcoholic beverages!  Not the gin and tonic you order at the bar, but the Bahama Mama or Margarita from places like Red Lobster and Chili’s.  This is one place that the restaurant industry in general, is not giving us a prelude with its on line menus.  I went to the websites of more than 10 restaurant chains while writing this blog, and only one, Red Lobster, had its alcoholic beverage calories posted. Some of these drinks have more calories than my meals; I expect many drinks will be reformulated when the law goes into effect.  If you want to get an idea, check out Red Lobster’s menu – see page 2. Else, stick with lighter beers and wine or traditional drinks, gin and tonic should have about 100 calories as does my favorite Dee Dee Sour (Seagram’s seven and Fresca).  BTW, the Red Lobster  Caramel appletini has 160 cals and the chocolate martini has 330 – how could anyone know this without a calorie disclosure on the menu, when you are ordering?  Unless of course, it’s that ONE day a year when none of this matters (smile face!)

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[1] https://www.federalregister.gov/regulations/0910-AG57/food-labeling-nutrition-labeling-of-standard-menu-items-in-restaurants-and-similar-retail-food-estab

https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2014/12/01/2014-27834/food-labeling-calorie-labeling-of-articles-of-food-in-vending-machines

Has Menu Labeling Had an Impact on TV Ads?

   There is a lot of opinion and a little bit of science for and against the (conspicuously absent) national menu labeling law.  In case you have forgotten - it has been 4 years - the law requires restaurant chains with 20 or more outlets to post calorie information for all standard items at the point of decision making/purchase (i.e., the menu board or menu).  If you have not been following the issue with me, let me state up front that I am a proponent of nutrition disclosures, especially calorie amounts, at all places where food and beverages are sold.  I believe that the information helps certain consumers and harms none.

   What I take away from the many research studies (Krieger & Saelens, 2013; Liu, 2013; Sinclair, Cooper, & Mansfield, 2014; Wei & Miao, 2013) that have tested local laws (and field/lab experiments) is: 1) for some people, the information is helpful and leads them to choose lower calorie options, while others either don’t see the information, don’t know what to do with it (when calorie disclosures come within a context, the information is more meaningful), or see it and actually choose higher calorie meals, and 2) some researchers are assessing whether menu labeling has an impact on weight or BMI, which is a long term goal and not necessarily the primary goal of calorie disclosures.

   What is of greater and more immediate interest to me is 1) whether or not consumer attitudes about and understanding of calories change after the introduction of calorie information and 2) whether or not the items available to purchase become lower in calories.  If you are interested in a good over view of calorie content in major restaurant items circa 2010, see this article by Wu (Wu & Sturm, 2013).

    On that last note - do restaurant owners change their behavior - I have something promising to report.  I have seen at least 3 TV commercials from different restaurants that post the calorie content, out loud, in a caption or both.  For example, McDonald’s states that its egg McMuffin has 300 calories in this TV ad, and Dunkin Donuts promotes a less than 300 calorie breakfast flat bread here.  I am pretty sure that I have seen a Taco Bell ad showing calorie content as well.  This is something new and though I don’t have evidence to back my assertion, it is possible that the state and local laws, along with the national labeling expectations and all this talk about calories, is leading consumers to expect the information and companies to provide it - and in so doing, the restaurant owners realize that they might need to offer lower calorie options.  YES, there are still plenty of ridiculous offerings, see the CSPI Xtreme Eating 2014, but that doesn’t negate the positive.

    Block and Roberto (Block & Roberto, 2014) encourage us to look for myriad positive outcomes of menu labeling as we continue to study the impact of such laws, I think they are right, and I add these commercials to the examples they provided in their recent publication (free on line).

Block, J. P., & Roberto, C. A. (2014). Potential Benefits of Calorie Labeling in Restaurants. JAMA.

Krieger, J. W., & Saelens, B. E. (2013). Impact of menu labeling on consumer behavior: A 2008-2012 update. Minneapolis, MN.

Liu, J. (2013). Menu labeling and food choice: A systematic review of the literature concerning the effects of menu labeling on consumer food choices.

Sinclair, S. E., Cooper, M., & Mansfield, E. D. (2014). The Influence of Menu Labeling on Calories Selected or Consumed: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

Wei, W., & Miao, L. (2013). Effects of calorie information disclosure on consumers’ food choices at restaurants. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 33(0), 106-117. doi: 10.1016/j.ijhm.2012.06.008

Wu, H. W., & Sturm, R. (2013). What's on the menu? A review of the energy and nutritional content of US chain restaurant menus. Public health nutrition, 16(01), 87-96.