Posted Jan 23, 2010
Sally Boyedoe strode right to glass-encased pastries at a San Jose Starbucks, her eyes devouring the red velvet cupcakes, petite vanilla bean scones and glistening iced lemon pound cakes.
Mustering willpower, she asked the barista for the reduced-fat coffee cake.
“If there’s nothing that’s low-calorie, I don’t order anything,” Boyedoe said.
When confronted with the calorie counts of sweet and savory treats, Starbucks patrons often changed their ordering habits, reducing their food calories by 14 percent, according to a Stanford University study released this month.
The results suggest that California’s push to put nutrition facts on every restaurant chain’s menu next year will sway customers
toward healthier food choices.
For the study, Stanford economics professors scrutinized every Starbucks transaction in New York City for one year. That city mandated calorie counts on the menu in 2008. Researchers found some patrons ditched the sugary side dishes, while others opted for the low-cal versions.
“When you post calories, people are less likely to purchase the scone with the coffee,” said Alan Sorensen, a co-author on the Stanford study.
Starbucks card-carrying members continued to make lower-calorie choices outside the city where nutrition facts weren’t posted, suggesting that the new habits don’t disappear when the nutrition facts are gone.
Giving up vanilla lattes, however, wasn’t up for debate. To their surprise, the researchers found no change in the calories consumed from the iconic white and green cups. Beverage buyers consistently overestimated the calories in their drink by 90 calories, so the real nutrition facts may have come as a pleasant surprise, according to the study. In contrast, customers lowballed the calories in a blueberry muffin by 70 calories.
More states are following New York’s calorie-divulging lead.
Next January, chains with 20 or more restaurants in California will have to post calories directly on their menus.
A provision in both versions of the House and Senate health care bills would expand menu labeling to all states. Calories for alcoholic drinks would also have to be posted, as would calories for items on drive-through menus, according to Dr. Harold Goldstein of the California Center for Public Health Advocacy.
But it’s unclear whether the behavior of the health-conscious, mocha-sipping crowd at Starbucks can forecast a calorie reduction in other restaurants. Few studies have tried to answer the question, and the ones that have are limited by tiny data sets.
A New York University team couldn’t find evidence of calorie-cutting after they collected receipts from McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s, and Kentucky Fried Chicken customers in low-income areas of New York, but they only had 1,000 receipts to go on. The Stanford study tracked 100 million Starbucks transactions; however, the researchers warn their results can’t be generalized to fast food.
Menu labeling will likely increase awareness of health issues, researchers said.
“It’s going to provide an incentive to teach what calories are in school,” said Goldstein.
Contact Marissa Cevallos at 408-920-5064.
Date: Jan 21, 2010
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