Information-rich environments....and calorie-rich burgers

This article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/06/nyregion/06calories.html?_r=1&ref=nyregion

is about the new New York City law that restaurants must prominently display the calorie counts of all items. A study analyzed people's receipts and found that the law had no effect on calorie consumption in low-income neighborhoods. However, people have said in surveys that they believe the extra information has made a difference in their eating patterns.

Proponents of choice in the health-care sector believe that consumers will make good decisions as long as information is available to them. In this particular case, that doesn't seem to be true. Too bad it didn't work, since this is an intervention that costs very little, and reaches every person that walks into a restaurant.