Study eyes NYC fast-food calorie info

Calorie labels mandated at New York City fast food restaurants since 2008 are leading one in six customers to make healthier choices, according to a study released Tuesday.

The findings came as McDonald's announced it will change the content of its children's Happy Meals to include apple slices and a smaller serving of fries. New York City Health Commissioner Thomas Farley, in a statement, called the change an example of what "growing national pressure on restaurants to offer lower-calorie and healthier items" can achieve.

The study, conducted by the New York City health department and published in the British Medical Journal, found almost 15 percent of customers used the labeling to inform their purchases and bought an average 106 fewer calories.

"These are encouraging findings," said Lynn Silver, an assistant city health commissioner and co-author of the study. "We hoped the calorie labeling would encourage consumers to make better choices . . . and encourage restaurants to reformulate their options."

Overall, the study didn't find a statistically significant change in calories purchased.

The largest calorie reductions were found among customers of Au Bon Pain (80 calories), KFC (59 calories) and McDonald's (44 calories).

At a McDonald's in Penn Station Tuesday, Mike Gruszczynski, 32, of Lindenhurst bought a large portion of French fries and a 20-piece serving of chicken nuggets. He was sharing the 930-calorie meal with a friend.

Gruszczynski said he was aware of the calorie labeling, but had not let it affect his purchases.

"There's not much fat on me," he said. "They should definitely keep them up, though. Some people need them."