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New Law Requiring Calorie Disclosure
For Immediate Release March 31, 2010
Contact: Cristi Allen
callen@decisionanalyst.com
Phone: 817-640-6166
Consumers Support New Law Requiring
Calorie Disclosure, Decision Analyst Study Shows
Arlington, Texas—A new federal law requiring restaurants to post calorie
information on their menus appears to have strong public support, according
to Decision Analyst, a leading international marketing research firm.
The law was buried in the healthcare legislation that President Obama signed
March 23. It requires restaurant chains with 20 or more locations to disclose
calorie counts on their food items and supply information on how many calories
a healthy person should consume in a day.
Decision Analyst, through its ongoing Health
and Nutrition Strategist™ proprietary study, has been
tracking the issue of calorie disclosure since 2006. In its most recent study
in 2009, the company surveyed 4,075 consumers. Participants were asked their
level of agreement on whether restaurants should post nutritional facts. Overall,
52% of respondents either “completely agreed” or “somewhat
agreed” that restaurants should post nutritional facts on each menu item.
By gender, 55% of females and 45% of males support calorie disclosure by restaurants,
according to the Decision Analyst study. A breakdown by age is shown below.
Restaurants Should Give Nutritional Facts On Each Menu
Item
(By Age)
Age |
Percent
Who Completely/Somewhat Agree |
18 to 24 |
55% |
25 to 34 |
58% |
35 to 44 |
50% |
45 to 54 |
50% |
55 to 64 |
50% |
65 or older |
47% |
“Younger age groups are definitely more interested in calorie disclosure,”
said Diane Brewton, Senior Vice President. “The younger age groups are
likely to eat out more often, so this information will assist them on those
occasions when they decide to make better nutritional choices. The older segments,
on the other hand, may already be knowledgeable about good nutritional choices
and feel less need for this information.”
Methodology
Decision Analyst’s Health
and Nutrition Strategist™ study is conducted online
using the company’s American Consumer Opinion® panel. This survey
data is from a nationally representative, statistically balanced sample of 4,075
American adults collected from January to December 2009. The margin of error
is less than 2 percentage points, plus or minus, at a 95% confidence level.
The Health and Nutrition Strategist™ study is a large, integrated knowledge
base of food, beverage consumption, restaurant usage, health habits, and nutritional
attitudes.
About Decision Analyst
Decision Analyst (www.decisionanalyst.com), based in Dallas-Fort Worth, is
a leading international marketing research and analytical consulting firm specializing
in advertising testing, strategy research, new product development, and advanced
modeling for marketing decision optimization. The 32-year-old firm delivers
competitive advantage to clients throughout the world in the consumer packaged
goods, retail, high technology, medical and pharmaceutical, utilities, and e-commerce
industries. In addition, Decision Analyst owns and operates American Consumer
Opinion® Online, one of the largest consumer panels in the world, with more
than eight million members.
For additional information contact:
Cristi Allen
Publicity
Email: callen@decisionanalyst.com
Phone: 1-800-ANALYSIS (262-5974) or 1-817-640-6166
Address: 604 Avenue H East
Arlington, TX 76011
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