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Diet Quality
Food away from home is increasingly important to the American
diet. The rising consumption of meals and snacks at food service
establishments reflects a growing demand among consumers for a
variety of foods, convenience, and the entertainment value
associated with eating out. However, restaurant foods, on average,
tend to be higher in calories and lower in some key nutrients than
foods prepared at home (see The Impact of Food Away From Home on Adult Diet
Quality;
Let's Eat Out: Americans Weigh Taste, Convenience, and
Nutrition; and
Away-From-Home Foods Increasingly Important to Quality of American
Diet).
A welcome sign is that restaurants are now offering more
healthful choices for nutrition-conscious consumers. Eating out was
long associated with eating more lettuce and potatoes, but less of
other types of vegetables and fruits, such as grapes, apples, and
citrus. Now, even fast food chains have added vegetable salads and
fruit-based items to their menus (see
Understanding Fruit
and Vegetable Choices: Economic and Behavioral Influences).
Nutrition Labeling
Many State and municipal governments, including New York City,
have passed laws that require chain restaurants to provide caloric
content and other nutritional information at the point of sale. In
2010, the Federal government moved to establish a uniform, national
standard: foodservice establishments that are part of a chain of 20
or more locations under the same name will be required to disclose
the number of calories in standard menu items adjacent to the name
on the menu in a clear and conspicuous manner. Other nutritional
information may be provided upon request in writing. The U.S. Food
and Drug Administration is formulating these regulations. (see Will Calorie Labeling in Restaurants
Make a Difference? and
Nutrition Labeling in the Food-Away-From-Home Sector: An Economic
Assessment).
Some restaurants were already providing nutritional information
before State and municipal governments passed mandatory labeling
requirements. Subway Restaurants, for example, lists the caloric
content of many of its sandwiches on drink containers. Burger King
and McDonald's voluntarily provide similar information on the back
of place mats, on posters, in pamphlets, or online.