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Accuracy of stated energy contents of chain restaurant foods in a multi‐site study

New government legislation will mandate increased reporting of nutrition information by restaurants but the accuracy of such information is uncertain. We used bomb calorimetry to measure energy contents of 269 randomly selected foods from chain restaurants in three states and compared the measured values to restaurant stated values. Overall, measured energy was extremely variable but on average not different from stated values corrected for metabolizable energy factors (+7±43%, P=0.57). In foods obtained from sit‐down restaurants, items with low stated energy (<600 kcal) contained more energy than stated compared to those with high energy (≥600 kcal) (+5% vs. −8%, P=0.05). In addition, the 10% of foods that had the greatest discrepancy between measured vs. actual energy content were re‐sampled and again had a similar discrepancy (54±28% and 44±26%, respectively, both P <0.0001 compared to 0%). In summary, the stated energy values of restaurant foods are frequently inaccurate, and menu choices that are apparently appropriate for weight control tend to contain more energy than stated. These errors may hamper use of restaurant‐provided nutrition information for self‐monitoring of energy intake for control weight. Funded by Tufts University, Purdue University, Arkansas Children's Hospital Research Institute, Arkansas Biosciences Institute.