While I do not have a sweet tooth, I am a fan of the dark chocolate ice cream at Baskin Robbins. Although the franchises in my hometown (Montreal) have regrettably discontinued the flavor (perhaps luckily for my waste size), I was delighted to find out that during a recent summer vacation to Southern California that the Newport Beach outlets have retained the flavor within their rosters. The bad news is that they have now instituted a new policy regarding the posting of calorie counts for all flavors in abiding to the requirements of The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (see here). Four ounces (one scoop) of my chocolate fudge flavor weigh in at 270 calories. Two scoops roughly equal a sixty-minute workout! The burning question was whether these ominous calorie counts would dissuade me from consuming my preferred ice cream. This internal tug with my “calorie conscience” led me to question whether researchers had reached a consensus on the issue at hand. Specifically, does the provision of calorie counts in restaurants (and other food establishments) alter consumers’ behaviors?
One would expect this to be an effective policy if one believes that individuals make poor choices largely because they are otherwise lacking in knowledge. Provide consumers with relevant information and they will hopefully make more informed and hence better decisions. However, as I argue in both The Evolutionary Bases of Consumption and The Consuming Instinct: What Juicy Burgers, Ferraris, Pornography, and Gift Giving Reveal About Human Nature, numerous instances of dark side consumption (e.g., excessive sun tanning, eating disorders, compulsive buying, pornographic addiction, excessive risk taking, and pathological gambling) are not driven by a lack of information. People overeat fatty foods and lead sedentary lives even though they are often fully aware of the ill effects of such an unhealthy lifestyle. Another classic example is the sex difference in the extent to which men and women sunbathe. Women are much more avid sun tanners and yet they are more knowledgeable about the adverse effects of this behavior (see here for one of my earlier posts in which I discuss sun tanning from an evolutionary perspective). Returning to the calorie labeling issue, are better-informed consumers making healthier food choices? What does the research thus far show? As is often the case in science, the findings are equivocal.
The following two studies (see here and here) found that calorie labels were largely ineffective while this third study (see here) arrived at the opposite conclusion. These conflicting findings are in line with a published review of the literature (see here), which suggests that the beneficial effects of calorie labels are quite small with many of the studies yielding somewhat mixed results. Bottom line: While many public policy interventions are well meaning in their desire to educate the consumer into making better informed decisions, this does not always translate into the desired and expected effects.
Readers interested in food-related issues might wish to check out ten of my earlier posts on this broad topic. The articles’ titles are listed below:
Food Prohibitions: God’s Will or “Earthly” Cultural Adaptations?
Don’t Go Grocery Shopping When Hungry!
The All-You-Can-Eat Chinese Buffet: Beware…Scientists Are Watching You!
Variety Might Be The Spice of Life But It Can Lead To Weight Gain
Huge Increase of Calories in Cookbook Recipes
You Want To Smell Better: Don’t Eat Red Meat!
Ladies: Pregnancy Sickness Is Potentially Beneficial For Your Growing Baby. Vomit!
Food Preferences Develop In Utero and During Breasfeeding
Women's Preconception Diets and Their Likelihood To Have a Boy
Why is Kitchen Nightmares with Gordon Ramsay So Gripping?
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