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Technomic Finds Strong Majority of Americans Support New Regulations on Restaurant Nutrition Disclosure

Posted on: Tuesday, 31 July 2007, 12:03 CDT

According to Technomic's recent NUTRITRACK study of 2,500 American adults, a strong majority of consumers are in favor of new regulations that would require restaurants to make significant changes to their nutrition disclosure practices.

In particular, 74 percent of adults said they support new regulations that would require restaurants to provide a section on all menus or menu boards that contains complete nutritional information for all items served. Similarly, 71 percent of adults said they support new regulations that would require restaurants to show the number of calories contained in each food item on the menu or menu board next to its price.

"Consumers clearly want to know more about what they're getting when they purchase meals at restaurants," said Chris Malone, the lead researcher on Technomic's NUTRITRACK study. "Americans' interest in health and nutrition is growing each year and consumers' now expect the kind of readily available and complete nutritional information when ordering restaurant meals that they're accustomed to for packaged food purchases," he added.

When asked which government or agency should have primary responsibility for creating restaurant nutrition regulations, public opinion was somewhat divided. Federal agencies such as the Food & Drug Administration were mentioned most frequently, followed by state governments. The federal and municipal governments were seen to be least appropriate for creating new restaurant regulations.

The NUTRITRACK research program was created to assist foodservice operators and manufacturers in monitoring and interpreting consumer health and nutrition trends, including public opinion on a wide variety of potential restaurant nutrition regulations. To learn more, contact Chris Malone at 312-876-0004, extension 3711 or by e-mail at cmalone@technomic.com.

About Technomic

Technomic, Inc. provides food and foodservice clients with the research, insights and strategic consulting support they need to enhance their business strategies, decisions and results. Its services include category and channel analyses, customer satisfaction studies, opportunity assessments, benchmarking programs and brand equity enhancement. Technomic offers clients proprietary management consulting solutions and shared-cost, common-interest research.

Source: Business Wire

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