'Traffic lights,' calorie counts help consumers order healthier online

(Carnegie Mellon University) Menu labels have become a favorite tool for policymakers to fight obesity, despite a lack of evidence that the format encourages people to make healthier food choices.However, new research from Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pennsylvania shows that 'traffic light' color-coded labels, numeric labels and a combination of the two reduce the number of calories ordered in online food orders by about 10 percent.