Studies tend to show limited results from putting calorie counts on restaurant and fast-food menus, says Emily Oster, associate economics professor at Brown. Writing at FiveThirtyEight, Brown says, “In most studies, the answer is no” – no evidence that people altered their purchases because they were given information about how many calories were in their food. But, Oster writes, two recent studies suggest there can be an impact, notably among better-educated customers, while lower-income patrons were far less influenced.
Oster notes estimates of high costs for businesses to comply with the FDA’s newly issued rules on labeling and says, “this seems almost certain” that “some subset of individuals” will respond to the labels. “On the other hand, if the idea is that these changes will drastically affect obesity in low-income populations eating at fast-food chains, the evidence doesn’t support this hope.”