Health Concerns

Calorie Counts Probably Don’t Make a Huge Difference to Fast-Food Customers

A new study says that calorie counts on fast-food menus aren’t likely to push customers toward healthier options, according to Time. “I was surprised that we found basically absolutely nothing,” says Eric Finkelstein, a professor at Duke-National University of Singapore who studied what happened after the Taco Time chain added calorie counts to its menus. Why didn’t they work? Well, one theory — our favorite, easily — is that just by walking into a fast-food restaurant people have already basically given up on the idea of healthy eating, so, calorie counts, are, like, eh, whatevs. At least we can say this about Americans: When they want gut-busting food, they aren’t going to pussyfoot around with salads. Luckily, fast-food restaurants are happy to oblige! [Healthland/Time]

Calorie Counts Probably Don’t Make a Huge Difference to Fast-Food