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The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene has released a report suggesting that a menu-labeling law has helped city residents make more healthful food choices, Reuters reports. The rule, which was implemented in July 2008, requires fast-food restaurants to post calorie information in large fonts on menu boards. Hailed by health advocates as a way to address rising obesity rates, the rule has become a model for similar efforts in other areas of New York, the state of California and several other U.S. cities. Supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), researchers in early 2007 surveyed more than 10,000 customers at 275 chain restaurant outlets and an additional 12,000 customers in 2009 and determined that customers purchased food with fewer calories at nine of the 13 fast-food and coffee chains included in the study. Specifically, statistically significant reductions in calorie consumption were observed at four food outlets—including McDonald's, Au Bon Pain, KFC and Starbucks—with customers consuming an average of 106 fewer calories after observing the calorie information compared with those who did not see the information. Although consumers purchased more at four other chains, the study's authors said there was only one chain where the increase was statistically significant. According to the data, 56 percent of fast-food customers reported viewing the calorie information. An earlier study, also sponsored by RWJF but conducted by researchers at New York University and Yale University, that included 1,156 adults who dined at various chain restaurants immediately before and after the rule went into effect found no change to consumer habits in low-income neighborhoods. However, the city's researchers contend that their study is more representative of the impact of the new law because it included more consumers over a longer period of time and was not limited to outlets in low-income neighborhoods. Commenting on the study, Lynn Silver, assistant commissioner for New York's Bureau of Chronic Disease Prevention and Control, said "dietary change is likely to come gradually," noting that "it will start with consumers interested in making informed, healthy eating decisions and we hope the industry will respond by offering more healthier choices and appropriate portion sizes" (Morgan, Reuters, 10/26/09; Hirsch, Los Angeles Times, 10/26/09 [registration required]).