Do Calories on the Menu Make a Difference?

[Michellefretz]

New York is a city that is obsessed with numbers. How much money did you make last year? How many championships have you won? How big is your skyscraper? How much did you pay for your two-bedroom apartment?

In New York City, chain restaurants must make calorie counts public. (AP Photo/Getty Images)But now the 8 million residents of the Big Apple are being forced to chew on some numbers that are a whole lot harder to swallow — the calories in their food. Since January of this year, chain restaurants with 15 or more establishments are required by law to post the calories of everything that they serve – right on the menu.

Comme

 

[OCCFan023]

So McDonalds, Wendys, Starbucks, and a couple other fast food places that I won't eat at even though they post the cal content.

This would be cool if quality restaurants that I would actually set foot in did it (every restaurant outside of the above), but unfortunetly I guess that isn't feasible.

 

[Cash]

This sounds like a good idea to me, it might give people some insight into just how bad that stuff is for them, i think it would be good for any restaurant with a set menu to do this. It might make people think about what they are eating when they see their daily recommended cal's posted on the backside of their lunch~

 

[EasyEJL]

is it chains with 15 in NYC or chains with 15 locations anywhere?

 

[DreamWeaver]

Put not your trust in labels.

 

[stl123]

I think that every food establishment should have to post the calorie content of their menu items. There is only one reason why a restraurant would not want to give out that information and that is because they don't want people to know how bad most of their menu items are. By allowing restaurants to keep the nutritional information secret, there is no incentive for these restaurants to come up with healthier menu items. These restaurants should have to make nutritional info somehow available for consumers.
I live in St. Louis and restaurants here are not required to divulge this information, however there are a few that voluntarily give this information out. I used to eat out at some of these restaurants all the time until I saw that I was limited to one or two menu items that SOME people would consider healthy. I now tend to eat only at restaurants that DO let me know what I am eating. How can you effectively keep track of your diet if you go out and eat and don't have a general idea of how much fat, carbs, and protein you are getting in a meal?
Each item at the grocery store is required by law to have nutritional information listed. Why don't restaurants have this requirement anyway?:aargh:

 

[EasyEJL]

Each item at the grocery store is required by law to have nutritional information listed. Why don't restaurants have this requirement anyway?:aargh:

I think its because of lack of precision - servings aren't quite perfectly metered at restaurants, so exactly how much sauce, etc goes on your plate varies a good bit

 

[stl123]

I think its because of lack of precision - servings aren't quite perfectly metered at restaurants, so exactly how much sauce, etc goes on your plate varies a good bit

Yeah, I somewhat understand that. I actually emailed one of my favorite restaurants a couple months back and that is the response they gave me. I just can't except that for an excuse.. These are huge companies that make a lot of money and they tell us it would be too hard to add up the nutrional value of ingredients they use every day, or because they change recipies or serving sizes vary. maybe they should consider hiring me to do this for them. I manage to do it everynight with what I cook for supper.

My main argument against this is that they have general guidelines or a recipie to follow when making a menu item. For instance a burger or even chicken dish uses X oz. of meat, X oz of side vegies, and so on. There should be no excuse as to why they can't make nutritional info available based on the amount of ingredients that the recipie calls for, not neccesarily what they exactly on the plate they bring to your table.

This is the same concept as nutritional information in cookbooks. What the cookbooks says might vary from the actual dish because you used different brands of x ingredients or you used more or less meat. In this case there is a general idea of the nutritional value of your meal, even though it is not exact.

I am very passionate about this topic. I don't eat at fast food restaurants at all, but I find it ironic that the a lot of people are critical of fast food restaurants for having unhealthy menu items when most sit down restaurants menu items are far worse for you and I believe it is because they don't have to tell you their food is worse for you. I can't tell you how many restaurants I have been to and ordered grilled chicken and steamed veggies and had them sitting in an inch of butter. It drives me crazy that they even ruin the healthiest dish they have with loads of butter.

End rant

 

[DreamWeaver]

I think its because of lack of precision - servings aren't quite perfectly metered at restaurants, so exactly how much sauce, etc goes on your plate varies a good bit

Don't forget outright bullshite lol

and then they'll use your argument to cover their ass.