Traffic Light (Photo credit: katerha)
University of Illinois agricultural economist Brenna Ellison, a professor of agricultural and consumer economics, has co-authored a study, paid with your tax dollars, with deep and profound implications for daily life: restaurant menus should come with traffic-light labels.
"The traffic light may function as a normative suggestion as to what is 'better' or 'worse' for diners to eat," Ellison said. "Thus, by reducing the number of calories ordered for diners across all levels of health-consciousness, the combination calorie/traffic-light label seems to be more effective than the numeric calorie label alone."
This critically important information will doubtless prove a useful addition to the nanny-state toolbox. The traffic light may, after all, be normative. You know how important that is.
