Consumers’ Use of Nutrition Information When Eating Out

Until recently, many restaurants and fast-food places did not offer nutrition information at the point of purchase. This is expected to change because the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act requires that nutrition information be posted in many of these venues. Once the law is fully implemented, it will be important to understand how it has affected consumer behavior. To establish a baseline against which to measure changes in the use of onsite nutrition information about food away from home (FAFH), we examine the demographic characteristics and dietary behaviors of U.S. consumers of FAFH before passage of the law, based on responses to the 2007-08 and 2009-10 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). In particular, we examine the characteristics of consumers who use nutrition information and of those who express interest in using the information when they eat out in the future