The purposes of this study were to investigate the customers perception on nutrition information provided on a family restaurant menu, to examine customers intention to use the nutrition information when eating out if nutrition information would be provided, and to identify what kinds of nutrient information the customers want. A total of 265 respondents were answered.
Female was sixty-six percents, and eighty-four percent of the respondents was less than thirty-five years old. The patrons perception about nutrition information on the menu showed the level of 2.5 points out of 5 points, which pointed out that family restaurant patrons were not satisfied with receiving nutritional information related to the menu. The customers perceived that restaurants had responsibilities for providing nutritional information about menu items. Sixty-six percent of respondents showed a positive intention to the question item about how much the customer would use nutritional information provided on the menu. The customers, who were female (p<0.05), who had a good health status, who showed higher interest on weight control (p<0.01), and who were health-oriented (p<0.0l), showed the higher intention to use nutritional information. Nutrient information in which the customers were interested strongly was a fat content, followed by cholesterol content and calorie information.
According to the trends of eating out, preferring family restaurants, and increasing interests in a healthful menu, nutrition information demand in restaurant operations would be increased rapidly in the near future. Providing nutrition information at the point of menu choice might result in the improvement of customers nutritional and health status by encouraging proper dietary habits of patrons as well as providing nutritional education. Therefore, it is recommended that government and restaurant firms should recognize the importance of nutrition information and make strategic plans for the future.
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