Nutrition Labels Can Influence Restaurant Choices, ICMR Study Finds

Nutrition information on restaurant menus can encourage people to choose meals with fewer calories, according to a randomised trial involving 2,462 diners in Chennai.

The study, conducted by researchers from the ICMR-National Institute of Epidemiology, ICMR-National Institute of Nutrition, the Indian Institute of Science and AcSIR, examined whether different types of nutrition labels could influence what people ordered at restaurants.

The researchers conducted the study across two restaurant chains in Chennai. Diners were shown different types of menus. Some received a standard menu without nutrition information, while others were shown menus containing information about the calorie and nutritional content of meals.

The findings suggest that the way this information is presented can make a difference to food choices.

Icon-based nutrition labels produced the strongest effect. Compared with diners who saw menus without nutrition information, people who saw icon-based labels selected meals containing about 12% fewer calories.

The researchers also compared different ways of displaying nutrition information. In one of the restaurant groups, meals selected by diners shown icon-based labels contained 224 fewer calories. Menus showing daily intake information resulted in meals with 198 fewer calories, while menus displaying calorie numbers alone were associated with a reduction of 142 calories.

The results suggest that making nutrition information easy to understand may be more effective than simply displaying numbers.

For consumers, restaurant menus can make it difficult to judge how much energy a meal contains. A dish may appear small but contain a large amount of calories, while another meal may look heavier but contain fewer calories. Providing clear information at the point where people make their food choices could therefore help them make more informed decisions.

However, the study did not find the same effect across all nutritional measures. The impact of menu labels on sugar and salt choices was less consistent. This suggests that providing information alone may not automatically change every part of a person’s food choice.

The researchers’ findings are relevant to India’s growing focus on nutrition and the prevention of diet-related health problems. Changes in eating habits, particularly increased consumption of calorie-dense foods outside the home, can make it harder for people to keep track of their overall calorie intake.

Menu labelling could offer a relatively simple way to give consumers more information before they order. Instead of finding out the nutritional content of a meal afterwards, diners can see the information while deciding what to eat.

The study also highlights the importance of how health information is communicated. Numbers can be useful, but visual symbols may allow people to understand information more quickly while making a decision.

For restaurants, clearer nutrition information could also become part of efforts to offer customers more informed choices. For consumers, it could provide another tool to compare meals before ordering.

The study, published in the journal Appetite on 12 August 2026, adds to research examining whether nutrition labelling can influence eating behaviour.

The researchers’ findings suggest that a simple change to a restaurant menu could influence the number of calories people choose. However, more research may be needed to understand whether these changes in ordering behaviour lead to lasting improvements in people’s overall diets and health.