High-calorie foods are getting the red light — literally — and Gainesville restaurants might be caught in the traffic.
Symbolizing the caloric content of menu items with traffic light colors had the strongest influence among all levels of health-conscious people, according to a recent study. It compared the intake of diners who ordered from a standard menu, a menu with the calorie counts and a menu with red, yellow and green lights representing items with high, middle and low calorie counts, respectively.
Diners ate an average of 817 calories from the standard menu, 765 calories from the calorie count menu and 696 calories from the traffic light menu, all at the same restaurant.
Dietician Laura Acosta, who owns LifeStyle Wellness in Gainesville, said the results of the study bring up an interesting idea: using symbols instead of actual numbers.
“The results don’t really surprise me, as symbols are quick visual guides that don’t require processing what the numbers mean and calculating how the calorie counts might fit into one’s diet,” she said.
Ron DeFilippo, owner of The Swamp Restaurant, is also onboard with the traffic lights. He said The Swamp’s menus used to include calorie counts, but they have since switched to health symbols.
“The symbols work much better than a number,” he said. “People shy away from numbers.”
DeFilippo said he would be open to implementing the traffic light idea.
“I like anything that identifies something you’re doing,” he said.
But Gary Beuning, general manager of Peach Valley Café in Gainesville, doesn’t like calorie information — in either form — on menus.
“I do not have any idea of the calorie counts on my menu,” he said.
Beuning said because the restaurant’s food is made-to-order, it would be too challenging to estimate the calorie levels beforehand.
He also thinks people don’t want to worry about counting calories when they eat out.
“They’re here for the flavor, not weight watching,” he said. “Putting those things on the menu is more confusing than anything else.”
Jacklyn Locklear, an 18-year-old UF exploratory freshman, said she tries to be health-conscious while ordering from a restaurant menu. She believes the traffic light idea would help her.
“It catches your eye because you’re drawn to colors,” she said. “It would definitely change the way I eat.”
The traffic light design is simple, and the study results suggested it helps people reduce their calorie intake.
“They provide an easy way to tell, at a glance, whether a menu item is high-, medium-, or low-calorie,” Acosta said.
