Nutrition information on menus is a trend in food service that doesn’t seem to be going away.  New York City has had its own menu labeling law for fast food chains in place for some time now.  The question has been, as critics love to point out, exactly how effective is a list of nutrition information on helping consumers make better decisions?

Despite an independent study that found no effect on the amount of calories customers ordered, New York’s study, conducted by the Department of Health, found that the presence of menu labels reduced the number of calories ordered at 9 of 13 fast food chains.  Over 22,000 patrons were surveyed at 275 locations over 2 years, about half before the city’s law went into effect and half after.

From an independent operator standpoint, menu labeling can seem like an unnecessary expense.  As consumers become accustomed to seeing nutrition information with the meals they order, those labels will be seen as a value-added service provided by the restaurant.  That will mean menu labeling will become a fundamental piece of marketing for just about every restaurant, regardless of the segment of the food service industry they occupy.