Health Concerns

Starbucks Customers Actually Give a Damn About Calorie Postings

A new study indicates that calorie counts in restaurants are often incorrect: “Restaurant meals average 18 percent more calories than are listed on menus. However, some individual restaurant items had up to 200 percent more calories than their stated caloric values.” Still, that’s not stopping Bloomberg from touting the results of another new study, which found that Starbucks customers are ordering 6 percent fewer calories since calorie posting went into effect. Longtime customers have lowered their calorie intake by 26 percent. Meanwhile, the changes haven’t made a difference in Starbucks profits (in fact, an item in the Orange County Register indicates that Starbucks will introduce a line of lower-calorie items next week). Given that a previous study of fast-food joints in poor neighborhoods showed that the calorie postings didn’t do squat, this may indicate that calorie consciousness is more prevalent on the higher end of the fast-food spectrum.

Food for Thought: Calorie Counts Inaccurate [Lawyers and Settlements]
I’ll Have a Low-Fat Muffin With My Frappuccino [City Room/NYT]
Starbucks to add low-calorie menu next week [OC Register]

Starbucks Customers Actually Give a Damn About Calorie Postings