When it’s about eating outside one usually ends up eating fast food which is high in calories. Now a new study has found that customers consume high calorie food despite the calorie counts menu boards. But it showed that menu labeling may lead restaurants to serve healthier options.

The findings of the study published on Monday in the journal Health Affairs showed that just a small number of fast-food customers ordered lower-calorie food items due to calorie counts on menu boards at four major chains in New York City.

The city asked the restaurant chains with at least 15 locations to mention calorie information on menus since 2008. After this rule went into effect, merely 12% of consumers ordered items which were low in calories and that later dropped to 9% in 2013 and 2014.

Brian Elbel, one of the authors of the study conducted by New York University School of Medicine, said one reason why consumers are not changing their eating habits despite menu labeling could be because the average fast-food customer might not be eating fast food due to health issues.

According to a second study led by Johns Hopkins' public health school, Chick-fil-A, Jamba Juice, McDonald's, Panera and Starbucks, all of which voluntarily posted calorie counts for several years on their menus, serve items that are low in calories as compared to their rivals that do not post calorie information.

The researchers also found that even at chains that didn’t voluntarily posted calorie counts, with time reduced the average calories per item.