Vote: Should Calorie Postings Be Mandatory?

New York City's mandatory calorie postings for chain restaurants has generated a number of questions. Will restaurants lose money if customers see the high calorie counts of their favorite items? Will posting calories help America's obesity problem? A couple of b-school studies have provided tentative answers.

Last November, I wrote about a Yale School of Management study that looked at purchasing behavior at a limited number of fast food restaurants before and after the calorie posting. The results? Though people reported buying lower calorie foods, the calorie average per order actually increased slightly.

A new study from Stanford Graduate School of Business had somewhat different results. Researchers Bryan Bollinger, Phillip Leslie and Alan Sorensen concentrated on purchasing behavior pre- and post-calorie display at Starbucks. They found that the average calories per purchase declined... but only by 6 percent.

Furthermore, the calorie decline was related to Starbucks' food items. While customers bought less food or switched to lower calorie foods, the postings didn't affect beverage choices. Perhaps people think that those 600 calories in their Venti Java Chip Frappuccino don't count because they're liquid? Or maybe they consider their favorite drinks simply too good to give up, high calorie or not.

While nutritionists may not be thrilled with these results, restaurant owners should be happy: the study found that Starbucks did not lose money after the mandatory calorie postings; in fact, many locations experienced an increase in revenue.

What do you think about mandatory calorie posting? Is it a helpful step toward improving America's eating habits? An unnecessary burden on restaurant owners? Both? Leave a comment or weigh in below.

Image courtesy of Starbucks Corp.