PRIORITY POLICY
Menu Labeling
Empowering consumers with the information they need to make healthier choices
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) required chain restaurants and similar food retail establishments with at least 20 locations nationwide to post calorie information on their menus and menu boards, and provide additional nutrition information like saturated fat and added sugars to customers upon request. The Food and Drug Administration’s rules that enforce this provision of the ACA, which took effect in 2018, apply to a wide variety of locations, such as supermarkets, convenience stores, delis, movie theaters and stadiums. Retailers with fewer than 20 locations are not required to abide by these rules, though they may do so voluntarily.
Research compiled in What Works for Health, part of the County Health Rankings and Roadmaps program, shows that benefits of restaurant menu labeling include increased awareness of and a reduction in calories purchased, as well as reduced caloric intake and reduced portion sizes. According to an FDA regulatory impact analysis, the menu labeling policy will provide a total net savings of $8 billion over 20 years.
Recommendations
Strong policies can help children and families eat healthier foods and be active. RWJF offers specific policy recommendations to help ensure more children in the United States have consistent access to healthy foods from the earliest days of life, in order to help them grow up at a healthy weight.
Spotlight
Menu Labels Can Help People Choose Fewer Calories
RWJF’s Healthy Eating Research program examined the impact of a menu labeling policy in Seattle/King County that applied to chain restaurants. The study found that adults and teens who used the information purchased up to 143 fewer calories compared to customers who did not, and a follow-up study found that the percentage of adults who saw and used calorie information had tripled two years after implementation.