
While food labeling proposals expand, Omri Ben-Shahar, a contributing Forbes writer, claims research shows food labels have been a failure. Study after study shows that labels have failed to promote even modest dietary improvements, Shahar writes in Forbes.
Perhaps most surprising is the failure of calorie labeling. When fast food chains were ordered to post calorie counts, everyone expected a drop in calories consumed and in serving sizes. But no! Research found almost no significant change. Even when minor reduction was spotted, it was not clinically meaningful. A modest exception is Starbucks: with labeling, customers were found to consume 6 percent fewer calories per transaction (interestingly, the effect is due to food, not beverage choices). But even such small effect does not carry over beyond the elite food market. Calorie labels have of no effect on low income people or on adolescents. A survey of all the evidence concludes “calorie labeling does not have the intended effect of decreasing calorie purchasing or consumption.”
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