Early reports suggest that restaurant patrons shown the calorie content of the dishes they may order don’t necessarily use that information to make better food and beverage choices. But all may not be lost, a new study suggests: When eateries got ahead of a new federal mandate and voluntarily posted their offerings’ calorie load for all to see, they appeared to whittle the calorie content of their offerings more aggressively than did establishments waiting for a calorie-posting requirement to take effect. Reducing the calorific load of menu items may not improve consumers’ decision-making.