"Read It And Weep!" - Is Restaurant Calorie Disclosure An Effective Behaviour Modification Tool?

A report recently published by a Canadian advocacy group, the Centre for Science in the Public Interest ("CSPI"), titled Writing on the Wall: Time to Put Nutrition Information on Restaurant Menus, has taken on the highly debated issue of restaurant menu calorie disclosure, advocating the listing of calorie counts and sodium levels next to every menu item.

The report points out that although disclosure of nutritional information including calories and 13 nutrients has been required by legislation in Canada on all pre-packaged foods since 2005, restaurant menus are not covered by the legislation and rarely provide nutritional information. The CSPI report notes that restaurant foods comprise at least one-fifth of the average Canadian's daily diet and states that menu labelling would help health-conscious consumers make healthier meal choices and would encourage restaurants to provide healthier menu options.