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Availability of and ease of access to calorie information on restaurant websites.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Bennett, GG; Steinberg, DM; Lanpher, MG; Askew, S; Lane, IB; Levine, EL; Goodman, MS; Foley, PB
Published in: PloS one
January 2013

Offering calories on restaurant websites might be particularly important for consumer meal planning, but the availability of and ease of accessing this information are unknown.We assessed websites for the top 100 U.S. chain restaurants to determine the availability of and ease of access to calorie information as well as website design characteristics. We also examined potential predictors of calorie availability and ease of access.Eighty-two percent of restaurants provided calorie information on their websites; 25% presented calories on a mobile-formatted website. On average, calories could be accessed in 2.35±0.99 clicks. About half of sites (51.2%) linked to calorie information via the homepage. Fewer than half had a separate section identifying healthful options (46.3%), or utilized interactive meal planning tools (35.4%). Quick service/fast casual, larger restaurants, and those with less expensive entrées and lower revenue were more likely to make calorie information available. There were no predictors of ease of access.Calorie information is both available and largely accessible on the websites of America's leading restaurants. It is unclear whether consumer behavior is affected by the variability in the presentation of calorie information.

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Published In

PloS one

DOI

EISSN

1932-6203

ISSN

1932-6203

Publication Date

January 2013

Volume

8

Issue

8

Start / End Page

e72009

Related Subject Headings

  • United States
  • Restaurants
  • Nutritive Value
  • Internet
  • Humans
  • General Science & Technology
  • Food Labeling
  • Fast Foods
  • Energy Intake
  • Access to Information
 

Citation

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ICMJE
MLA
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Bennett, G. G., Steinberg, D. M., Lanpher, M. G., Askew, S., Lane, I. B., Levine, E. L., … Foley, P. B. (2013). Availability of and ease of access to calorie information on restaurant websites. PloS One, 8(8), e72009. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0072009
Bennett, Gary G., Dori M. Steinberg, Michele G. Lanpher, Sandy Askew, Ilana B. Lane, Erica L. Levine, Melody S. Goodman, and Perry B. Foley. “Availability of and ease of access to calorie information on restaurant websites.PloS One 8, no. 8 (January 2013): e72009. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0072009.
Bennett GG, Steinberg DM, Lanpher MG, Askew S, Lane IB, Levine EL, et al. Availability of and ease of access to calorie information on restaurant websites. PloS one. 2013 Jan;8(8):e72009.
Bennett, Gary G., et al. “Availability of and ease of access to calorie information on restaurant websites.PloS One, vol. 8, no. 8, Jan. 2013, p. e72009. Epmc, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0072009.
Bennett GG, Steinberg DM, Lanpher MG, Askew S, Lane IB, Levine EL, Goodman MS, Foley PB. Availability of and ease of access to calorie information on restaurant websites. PloS one. 2013 Jan;8(8):e72009.

Published In

PloS one

DOI

EISSN

1932-6203

ISSN

1932-6203

Publication Date

January 2013

Volume

8

Issue

8

Start / End Page

e72009

Related Subject Headings

  • United States
  • Restaurants
  • Nutritive Value
  • Internet
  • Humans
  • General Science & Technology
  • Food Labeling
  • Fast Foods
  • Energy Intake
  • Access to Information