Study: 75% of consumers want menu-labeling laws

Nation's Restaurant News,  August 13, 2007  

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CHICAGO -- Nearly three out of four adults want restaurants to be required by law to post on their menus or menu boards a nutritional analysis of every item offered, according to a study by Technomic Inc.

In a survey of 2,500 consumers, the research and consulting firm also found that the public wants more than the items' calorie content to be posted.

Seventy-four percent of the respondents said they support regulations mandating full nutritional disclosure on menus, compared with 71 percent who said they favor the listing of only calorie counts.

Technomic's study was conducted in the wake of New York City's enactment of a law requiring restaurants to make on-menu disclosures of calories if they previously had divulged such information through other media, such as a brochure or website.

On July 19, Washington state's Seattle-anchored King County passed a law that will require chain restaurants there to list calorie, fat, sodium and carbohydrate contents of its food on menus and menu boards, beginning next Aug. 1.

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