What's on the menu? A review of the energy and nutritional content of US chain restaurant menus
Open accessAbstract
Objective: The present study aimed to (i) describe the availability of nutrition information in major chain restaurants, (ii) document the energy and nutrient levels of menu items, (iii) evaluate relationships with restaurant characteristics, menu labelling and trans fat laws, and nutrition information accessibility, and (iv) compare energy and nutrient levels against industry-sponsored and government-issued nutrition criteria. Design: Descriptive statistics and multivariate regression analysis of the energy, total fat, saturated fat,trans fat, sodium, carbohydrate and protein levels of 28 433 regular and 1833 children's menu items. Setting: Energy and nutrition information provided on restaurant websites or upon request, and secondary databases on restaurant characteristics. Subjects: The top 400 US chain restaurants by sales, based on the 2009 list of the Restaurants & Institutions magazine. Results: Complete nutrition information was reported for 245 (61 %) restaurants. Appetizers had more energy, fat and sodium than all other item types. Children's menu specialty beverages had more fat, saturated fat and carbohydrates than comparable regular menu beverages. The majority of main entrées fell below one-third of the US Department of Agriculture's estimated daily energy needs, but as few as 3 % were also within limits for sodium, fat and saturated fat. Main entrées had significantly more energy, fat and saturated fat in family-style restaurants than in fast-food restaurants. Restaurants that made nutrition information easily accessible on websites had significantly lower energy, fat and sodium contents across menu offerings than those providing information only upon request. Conclusions: The paper provides a comprehensive view of chain restaurant menu nutrition prior to nationwide labelling laws. It offers baseline data to evaluate how restaurants respond after laws are implemented.
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Bundling beverages and side dishes with kids' meals may negatively affect nutritional quality of the meal when beverages and side dishes are high in calories and low in nutrients.
“At full-service and quick-service restaurants, main dishes for children are often bundled with beverages and side dishes (referred to herein as “kids’ meals”), which may negatively affect nutritional quality of the meal when beverages and side dishes are high in calories and low in nutrients [6, 8–10].”
From Child and parent perspectives on healthier side dishes and beverages in restaurant kids’ meals: results from a national survey in the United States (2018) · cites this paper as [8]
The Discussion says children’s specialty beverages are often sugary and high in energy, and the Conclusions warn that extras can be problematic when assessing an entire meal. The Energy and nutritional content section also reports that at most 33% of children’s sides met Kids LiveWell criteria. The paper does not establish that children’s entrées are often bundled with beverages and sides at both full-service and quick-service restaurants. (LLM, conf=0.84)
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- Authors
- Wu, H. W., & Sturm, R.
- Affiliations
- RAND Corporation (US)
- Corresponding author
- Wu, Helen W
- ORCID
- Wu, Helen W
- Venue
- Public Health Nutrition
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press (CUP)
- Published
- 2012-05-11
- Volume
- 16
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 87-96
- ISSN
- 1368-9800 (ISSN-L)
- 1475-2727
- PMC
- PMC10271328
- OpenAlex
- W2033963321
- Cited by
- 108
- References
- 27
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 15 · 2015: 10 · 2014: 14 · 2013: 15 · 2012: 4
- FWCI
- 13.28
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Public Health Nutrition (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Consumer Attitudes and Food Labeling
- Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Nutrition, Health and Food Behavior
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Food Science › Food and Agricultural Sciences
- Keywords
- restaurant chains, nutrition labeling, trans fatty acids, sodium, saturated fat, energy content, restaurant websites, fast food restaurants, restaurant menu items
- MeSH terms
- Energy Intake, Commerce, Diet, Food Labeling, Humans, Nutritive Value, Restaurants, United States, Multivariate Analysis, Nutrition Policy, Internet
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