Despite Healthy Changes, Restaurant Menus Still Feature High-Calorie, High-Sodium Entrées

Though restaurant chains have unveiled healthier menus in recent years, the overall levels of calories and sodium have stayed pretty much the same, a U.S. study finds. The researchers reviewed restaurant Web sites for nutrition information over a year , finding that the many substitutions and reformulations of entrées led to no meaningful nutrition changes overall. Family-style restaurants reduced sodium among higher-sodium entrées, but not on average, and “entrées still far exceeded recommended limits”. Fast-food restaurants cut calories in children's menu entrées. A few restaurant brands made significant changes in calories or sodium, but the vast majority did not, the researchers concluded.