Food service foods tends to be, on average, higher in
calories and lower in key
nutrients than foods prepared at home. Many restaurants, including
fast food, have added more salads and fruit offerings and either by choice or in response to local legislation provided nutrition labeling. Eating one meal away from home each week translates to 2 extra pounds each year or a daily increase of 134 calories and a decrease in diet quality by 2 points on the
Healthy Eating Index. In addition; the likelihood of contracting a
food-borne illness (such as
typhoid and
hepatitis B, or diseases caused by
E. coli,
H. pylori,
Listeria,
Salmonella, and
norovirus) is greatly increased due to food not being kept below or cooked to a temperature of higher than , not washing hands for at least 20 seconds for food handlers or not washing contaminated cutting boards and other kitchen tools in hot water.
United States In the US, the
FDA is moving towards establishing uniform guidelines for fast food and restaurant labeling, its proposed rules were published in 2011 and final regulations published on 1 December 2014 which supersede State and local menu-labeling provisions, going into effect 1 December 2015. Research has shown that the new labels may influence
consumer choices, but primarily if it provides unexpected information and that health-conscious consumers are resistant to changing behaviors based on menu labeling. Fast food restaurants are expected by the
ERS to do better under the new menu labeling than full-service restaurants as full-service restaurants tend to offer much more calorie-dense foods, with 50% of fast food meals being between 400 and 800 calories and less than 20% above 1000 calories, in contrast, full-service restaurants 20% of meals are above 1,400 calories. When consumers are aware of the calorie counts at full-service restaurants 20% choose lower calorie options and consumers also reduce their calorie intake over the rest of the day. ==Types of service==