Would You Like a Side of Calories With That?
Photo Credit: Stu Spivack
If this sounds at all familiar that's because an earlier regulation proposing something similar was passed by the NYC board of health but was subsequently blocked by a federal judge. The ruling had something to do with the regulation, which was only going to apply to chains with existing public nutrition information, being preempted by federal law. But the second time's the charm because this newer regulation includes all chains with more than 15 units nationally whether they have existing public nutrition information or not.
Back when the earlier regulation was in consideration, various restaurant chains chose to react two very different ways. Some chains like Subway and Auntie Anne's took, in my opinion, the "high" road and have been using menus in NYC with calories since last summer. Others chose to take a different path. Other chains, including Chipotle, Quiznos, Wendy's and White Castle chose to react by pulling their nutrition information from websites or posters, according to The Center for Science in the Public Interest, a nonprofit consumer advocacy group that is actively supporting this type of labeling progress around the country. Why would a restaurant go out of its way to deprive the customer of knowing how many calories they are about to put in their body?
I wondered why the new regulation didn't include grams of fat or saturated fat in addition to calories, at least on written menus where there potentially could be enough room to do this (compared to the already crowded menu boards). But this nutrition info may be coming soon to a restaurant menu near you! There are different regulations being proposed in different counties all across the U.S. Probably one of the most progressive changes took place in King County, Washington, home of one of the biggest foodie cities in the country - Seattle. They passed a menu labeling law for restaurants that includes calories, fat grams, saturated fast grams, and carbohydrate grams. This pretty much describes a dietitian's dream menu! Why stop there though - why not go for the gold and add fiber grams too!
So, if you happen to live in or visit one of these areas, you will have the opportunity to know the calories of potential menu items before you order. The question is...when faced with the cold hard facts...will it change your choices?
Related Topics: Technorati Tags: menus, calories, fast food, restaurants, healthy diet
4 Comments:
Most people probably wont care. If they did, they would not be going to places like Micky D's in the first place. But...if these establishments are smart...they will have some new healthy food choice items to pick from.
I think this is a great idea, and it will make a difference to me, as I will look at saturated fat and fiber information carefully. I think it will also cause awareness among those who prepare the menus. Its win - win, we get thinner and the restaurants quit killing their clients.
Please convert all you weight and measurements in METRIC. The whole is metric apart from the U.S. I live in Thailand and it is, of course metric.
Thank you
Tony
My son has juvenile diabetes and we dose his insulin based upon the number of carbohydrates in the food he consumes. While we only at at fast food restaurants when traveling, it makes it much easier for me to regulate his diabetes when I have some clue as to what is in the food he is eating. So applaud this new regulation.
Further, I think that calorie count and fat count is sometimes counter-intutitve and I do believe that people will make choices based upon this information. I know that I will.
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