Hard to imagine something as simple as adding detailed nutritional information to fast-food restaurant menus not having SOME impact on the buying habits of Americans, but that's exactly what happened in a 13-month study that tracked the purchases made at Taco Time outlets in Seattle and King County, Wash.

The study tracked the effectiveness of menu labeling at fast-food restaurants, mandated by King County health officials at chains with more than 15 locations in hopes of slowing down the epidemic of obesity. Despite revamped menus, the total number of sales and average calories per transaction at Taco Time locations was unchanged, a surprise even to researchers who had expected results to be small as seen in previous studies.

These results are certainly a major letdown, particularly with new FDA regulations (part of health care reform legislation passed in Congress last year) mirroring such changes in fast-food restaurants with more than 19 outlets nationwide coming in March.

The one glimmer of a silver lining: Taco Time restaurants already had targeted healthier food options with special logos on their menu boards before the local change, meaning customers were already aware which items were more nutritious.

Of course, if people can justify feeding their pets fried chicken nuggets or tidbits from restaurant "doggie" bags without a care in the world what it will do to shorten the lives of their four-legged companions over the long haul…

DukeHealth.org January 17, 2011

MSNBC January 16, 2011

Scientific American January 14, 2011