Menu Labeling and Restaurant Purchases

• In Event: Policies to Incentivize Engagement in Healthy Behaviors

Abstract

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) required chain restaurants to post calorie information on menus and menu boards as of May 2018. This paper examines the impact of this menu-labeling requirement on the nutritional content of foods purchased by consumers in fast-food restaurants. Prior research on local menu labeling laws has examined changes in items ordered at limited points in time in individual chain restaurants, finding mixed results regarding the impact on calories purchased. This paper expands on the literature by examining the nationwide implementation of the ACA’s menu labeling requirement and examining purchasing patterns at seven of the largest chain restaurants in the country for six months after compliance with the menu-labeling requirement. We examine the impact of the menu labeling policy using a 24-month consumer panel from Numerator of restaurant purchases by 1100 consumers from November 2016 through November 2018, which includes the implementation of the national requirement and the anticipated implementation in May 2017 that was paused in the preceding days. These data provide information on all restaurant purchases and the menu item and price for all purchases in seven fast food chains. We link these data to the nutritional content of menu items in fast-food restaurants to examine the impact of menu-labeling requirements on the number of calories purchased and the nutritional quality of the items purchased in these restaurants. To identify the impact of the national law, we compare the outcomes for individuals who live in areas with a local menu-labeling law predating the federal requirement to the outcomes for consumers who live in nearby areas without a menu-labeling requirement until the enactment of the federal requirement. We find that consumers did not change the frequency with which they visited fast-food restaurants and consumers purchased items with fewer calories and other nutrients.

Author

• David Frisvold, University of Iowa
  Presenting Author