Taste and price, not calories, key drivers for online takeout orders, survey suggests

Taste and price, rather than calorie content, seem to be the key considerations for those ordering takeouts online, despite calorie labeling legislation designed to help consumers make healthier food choices, suggests an analysis of survey responses, published in the open-access journal BMJ Nutrition Prevention & Health.

These orders tend to be favored by younger people and those living with obesity, the responses indicate. And the limited impact of calorie labeling, despite relatively high awareness of the regulations, suggests that additional strategies are needed, say the researchers.

Takeouts are usually lower in nutritional content than home-cooked meals. And their frequent consumption is linked to a less healthy diet, overall, and higher energy intake, note the researchers.

But it’s still not clear which factors might be driving these purchases and how interventions, such as calorie labeling, which was mandated in England in 2022 for food businesses with more than 250 employees, might help to promote healthier food choices, they add.

To find out, they drew on the responses of a consumer behavior panel of 1,040 adult takeout consumers in England to a survey assessing their knowledge and awareness of calorie labeling legislation and the principal factors driving their food choices.

The survey covered: takeout frequency; knowledge of the recommended calorie content of a meal; awareness of calorie labeling; noticing calorie labels and their perceived impact; ranking of drivers of takeout and home-cooked meal choices by healthiness, price, taste, preparation/delivery time, portion size, and low carbon footprint; and ranking of additional strategies—higher prices for less healthy items, smaller portions, exercise-based calorie labels, traffic light labels, and provision of healthier alternatives.

Around two thirds (68%) of respondents were women; over half were aged between 35 and 55. More than half were overweight (35%) or living with obesity (28%).

Around one in four (27%) respondents reported ordering a takeout at least weekly. A further 41% had takeouts every two to four weeks, and around a third (32%) less than once a month.

Analysis of the responses showed that the under 35s were more than twice as likely to order them at least weekly as older age groups. Those who were living with obesity were also twice as likely to have weekly takeouts as those of healthy weight or who were underweight.

Respondents tended to overestimate the recommended calorie content of a meal. The average estimate was 747 kcal—about 25% higher than the recommended 600 kcal—which just 15% correctly identified. Women were twice as likely to identify the correct, or lower than recommended, calorie content of a meal as men.

Almost two thirds (63%) of respondents were aware of the calorie labeling legislation, although this was more likely among the highest socioeconomic group. But most (77%) didn’t notice any calorie information during their most recent online takeout purchase.

Of those who did (235), nearly three-quarters (71%) said it didn’t affect their food choices and almost two thirds (63%) reported no impact on their drink choices; 2–3% reported ordering higher-calorie content food and drink.

Taste was the most important consideration for takeouts, followed by price, delivery time, and portion size. For home-cooked meals, taste and price were also the principal drivers, followed by portion size, preparation time, and convenience.

Healthiness was a more important consideration for home-cooked meals: more than half (56%) of the respondents scored this as (very) important compared with 22% for takeouts. Low carbon footprint was the least relevant driver for both meal types.

Women were 51% more likely than men to consider healthiness (very) important for a takeout, while those aged 65 or older were four times as likely to do so.

Around half of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that traffic light labels and healthy alternatives would encourage healthier choices, while around a third (30%) backed higher prices, exercise-based calorie labels, and smaller portions.

This is an observational study, and as such, can’t establish a cause. And the researchers acknowledge that the under 35s and men were underrepresented, while those reporting behavior changes prompted by calorie labeling were too few to be representative.

“Our findings highlight the complexity of efforts to improve the healthiness of takeout foods … Calorie labeling was widely unnoticed and influenced only a minority of choices,” they point out.

“More real-world evaluations are needed from different contexts and populations to understand motivations of takeout consumption and the effectiveness of calorie labels in this setting, including in conjunction with other interventions,” they suggest.

“While calorie labeling may affect only a minority, it can be part of a broader strategy to address obesity and poor diets. However, its potential to improve diets without exacerbating existing health inequities remains uncertain,” they conclude.