New ICLE Review Finds Limits to Food-Delivery Disclosure Mandates
PORTLAND, Ore. (Aug. 25, 2026) — As the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) weighs extensive fee-disclosure mandates for food-delivery apps, a new International Center for Law & Economics (ICLE) review of the economic literature finds that dense, repetitive requirements can confuse consumers and displace prices, delivery times, allergen information, and other useful content on users’ phone screens.
Authored by ICLE Director of Economic Research Eric Fruits, the brief concludes that the FTC should focus on targeted rules against hidden mandatory fees while testing more prescriptive mandates before adopting them.
The review examines the FTC’s proposal to require online food-delivery platforms to display, itemize, explain, and repeatedly disclose pricing and fee information. It finds broad support in the empirical and theoretical literature for preventing platforms from concealing known mandatory fees behind misleading headline prices. Studies of so-called “drip” pricing consistently show that delaying disclosure of fixed, unavoidable fees distorts consumer choices.
“Research supports clear, timely disclosure of known mandatory fees,” Fruits writes. But charges that depend on a customer’s cart, address, traffic, demand, or delivery window would require different treatment because platforms cannot calculate them at the start of an order, he notes.
The literature also shows that accumulated detail, numerical complexity, clutter, and repeated warnings can impair comprehension and cause consumers to disengage. Studies of mortgage forms, security warnings, nutrition labels, and digital disclosures find that simpler, well-tested formats often outperform longer disclosures. As the review concludes: “Additional disclosure does not always improve decisions.”
The review also examines crowding out. On a smartphone screen, mandated fee modules can displace delivery estimates, restaurant ratings, comparison tools, and allergen or nutrition information. Economic theory and regulatory experience recognize that risk, although direct evidence from food-delivery interfaces remains limited.
Fruits recommends that the FTC compare disclosure formats in actual mobile-ordering interfaces, measure which information gains or loses attention, distinguish first-time users from repeat customers, and give field evidence greater weight than laboratory estimates.
The full issue brief can be downloaded here. To arrange an interview with Fruits, contact Jim Fellinger at [email protected].
About ICLE
The International Center for Law & Economics (ICLE) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research center that promotes the use of law and economics methodology to inform public policy debates. ICLE produces academic research, policy papers, regulatory comments, and public commentary on a wide range of issues at the intersection of law, economics, and technology. For more information, visit laweconcenter.org.