Ecolabels and the Healthfulness and Carbon Footprint of Restaurant Meal Selections

Do ecolabels lead people to select foods from restaurants that are healthier or have a lower carbon footprint?In this randomized clinical trial with 3147 US adults, participants who viewed restaurant menus displaying ecolabels on more environmentally sustainable foods selected items with similar overall healthfulness and 9.2% lower carbon footprint compared with participants who viewed restaurant menus without ecolabels.Ecolabels could be a scalable, low-cost strategy to reduce the carbon emissions of restaurant food choices.

Corresponding Author: Anna H. Grummon, PhD, MSPH, Stanford University, 3145 Porter Dr, A103, Palo Alto, CA 94304 (agrummon@stanford.edu).

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