According to Mintel Menu Insights, last month's recommendations from the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee confirmed what consumers have already been suggesting: restaurants need healthier menus. Between Q2 2009 and Q2 2010 menu items labeled as "healthy" grew 65%. The new health care bill will require all restaurants, with 20 or more locations, to include calorie counts on menus, menu boards and drive-throughs. According to the study, more than 60% of restaurant-goers think restaurants should post nutritional information on menus, and 44% think federal or local governments should facilitate such actions.

Coupons.com recently issued new data that shows digital coupons grew 100% during the 12-month period ending June 30, 2010, while free standing inserts in newspapers rose 8.4% for the same period. The data shows that more than $1 billion in digital coupon savings was printed or loaded to a store loyalty card via the Coupons.com network in the last 12 months, outpacing the growth of coupons distributed in newspapers 10 to 1.