Evaluation of a nutrition information policy in chain restaurants in Multnomah County, Oregon

The goals of the study are to determine the changes after the implementation of menu labeling in: average calories, saturated fat, and sodium of purchases in a sample of restaurants; percentage of customers who have seen nutrition information for food items sold in restaurants and for whom nutrition information influenced their purchase; and menu offerings and nutritional values of menu items at the 10 most common restaurant chains in Multnomah County. This study uses a pre-post design that includes: 1) a repeated cross-sectional intercept survey of customers at a sample of 50 of the four most common types of quick-service establishments: burger, sandwich, Mexican/taco, and coffee; 2) a menu audit that analyzes menu offerings and nutritional values of menu items at all regulated establishments; and 3) an environmental assessment of a sample of establishments. Our baseline analysis will reveal the average caloric value of purchases per person, by food type, demographics, and socio-geographic strata. We will present data on the percentage of customers that reported they saw calorie information (in-store pamphlets, tray liners, promotional displays) and the percentage of customers that reported they used calorie information for their purchase.