New Research Shows that Nutritional Information from Many Top 100 Chain Restaurants Buried in Websites

SAN FRANCISCO, April 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Information about food calories, nutrients, and percentage of daily recommended intake, is often buried in the websites of the country's major chain restaurants, according to research conducted by EatNation.com – a new website launching today that connects people with their local food community.  The study looked at the 2009 annual list of the top 100 chain restaurants from Restaurant and Institutions magazine to determine how many made nutritional information easily accessible to customers – The results showed that many restaurants still appear reluctant to publish information about the food they provide:

• 19 chain restaurants had no nutritional information at all available online.
• Only 12% of chain restaurants provided nutritional information in one click.
• Just over half of the restaurants have a nutritional link directly on their home page.
• It takes more than three clicks to get to the nutritional information for 39% of the top chain restaurants.

Restaurants that have no nutritional information available online include some of the most recognizable names in the industry – Hard Rock Cafe, The Cheesecake Factory, T.G.I. Friday's, Tony Roma's, Maggiano's Little Italy, Waffle House, Ruth's Chris Steak House, and Bennigan's Grill & Tavern.  Chains that have received the most criticism for their ingredients and high calories tended to be more open about their food.  KFC, Burger King, McDonald's, Subway, Pizza Hut, Wendy's and Dunkin' Donuts are among the largest chains that offer clear nutritional information in just one or two clicks. Most egregious, however, are so-called "family friendly" chains that cater to families with inexpensive children's menus and promotions.  IHOP, Cheesecake Factory, Shoney's, and CrackerBarrel among others offer no nutritional information whatsoever.

"Given the national trend towards healthier, more informed eating, we found that many chain restaurants are still not part of the solution, especially some of the chains that serve families and children," said Cora Yang, CEO of EatNation.  "The more consumers know about the food they're eating, the easier it is to make the good choices we're always trying to teach our kids.  One of the reasons we created EatNation was to provide intelligent, relevant information to people about the food around them. We connect them with the farmers, food companies, markets, writers, restaurateurs, and neighbors who all make up an informed, supportive food community."

Detailed graphs, a slideshow and the list of the best and worst chain restaurants for easily available nutritional information can be found at www.eatnation.com and http://bit.ly/avX8mV.

About EatNation

EatNation is an online food community that connects people to the food around them. Using a unique neighborhood approach in building each city-specific site, EatNation focuses its content and advertising on what is most relevant and useful to members.  Through a carefully selected roster of local food bloggers, event postings, forums, and news alerts, EatNation makes a member's food experience fun, engaging, and easily accessible. An exclusive collection of recipes from legendary food writer Peggy Knickerbocker and articles from the highly acclaimed food journal Gastronomica inspire creativity while users shop, cook, and eat. EatNation members actively contribute to EatNation in comments, forum discussions, by sending news alerts straight to our editors, and in creating their own pages, exactly as is most useful and entertaining for them.

SOURCE EatNation