Summary-

New Yorkers have been in the throes of sticker shock since this spring when the Big Apple became the first city in the country to implement a law forcing chain restaurants to post the calorie count of each food in the same size and font as the price.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25464987/

I found this article incredibly amusing, and I pray that other cities do the same.

I wonder if this will cut down on those ridiculously huge servings of fries restaurants use to make the plate look full.  (I don't see why they don't just use smaller plates.)  I wish they'd make that law here so that I don't have to plan my meal before I even get to the restaurant (which takes some of the fun out of eating out).

Parts of that article are laughable. If you're upset about learning what's in the food you're eating then hmmm...maybe perhaps you shouldn't be eating it??? Everyone shouldn't have to suffer from nutritional ignorance when they go out simply because a few people would rather be ignorant and unhealthy.

If you want to go and indulge yourself one night that's fine, go out knowing you're going to be eating a lot of calories and disregard the numbers. But don't make it so everyone trying to eat healthy that night is left in the dark when given the menu.

All I can say is I really hope every city and town start putting the nutritional information on the menus ASAP...

What a great idea. Maybe a nutritional breakdown/analysis could also be provided upon request. FOREWARNED IS FOREARMED. I'm all for helping people making INFORMED DECISIONS.

Man I wish that they had nutritional info. available where I live!! I hate not knowing how many calories I'm eating!!

This article was interesting too, I guess at CC we're one step ahead!

Oh and for us Canadians, CBC's Marketplace did a story on this too.  It was pretty interesting how much resistance there was to the idea of putting nutritional info on the menu.  I saw it when it aired, but this link has some info as well as a video.  Not sure if the video is the entire show or not. 

Like others have said, I'm glad that he information is now available. However, I wish Texas was like this :( I think some americans need a slap in the head (not having the OPTION to go look at the internet for nutrition information) to understand what they're eating isnt what they think they're eating.

Now if the government was forcing people to eat certain things and take freedom of choice out of it, I think that's going too far. But people still have the choice overall. They can continue to be overeaters and not care what they eat, or they can become aware. That is just what the government is trying to do, raise awareness. They haven't banned cigarettes, but they are trying to raise awareness so less people will choose to smoke. Same thing here I think.

Times are always changing, and the laws need to change with the culture.

Good for NYC!

gi-jane: Why are you, or why is anyone for that matter, eating out at chain restaraunts?!  They are absolutely horrible.  Support your local mom & pop places which are inevitably healthier and probably cheaper! 

You said that people who choose to go to these types of places already know what they are getting themselves into.  This is patently false.  The fact of the matter is that *most* Americans are grossly misinformed about health and nutrition.  Furthermore, this is a rampant problem among minorities who generally have less access (financially, geographically, medically) to information about healthy choices and also generally have more access to horrible chain restaurants, from fastfood like McDonalds (which markets its products explicitly to minority groups in a feat of systemic and corporate racism which astounds me every time I think about it) to "nicer" sit-down chains like Chili's (which serves the infamous 'Awesome Blossom' at 2,710 calories and should not only be required to inform its customers of this incredible number but should also be the object of a class action lawsuit for their admittedly meditated participation in the violent and obesity epidemic in this country).

These restaraunts are identical to cigarette companies: corporate greed, environmentally irresponsible, racist, and completely aware of what they are doing.  This is why capitalism is bulls.h.i.t and why everyone is fat.  Do some research on your favorite chain and boycott it when you discover the disgusting amount of calories and fat in the food you eat as an "indulgence"!!!

Original Post by todeinotaton:

 Do some research on your favorite chain and boycott it when you discover the disgusting amount of calories and fat in the food you eat as an "indulgence"!!!

Why in the world would I want to boycott Red Robin because someone else chooses to not educate themselves, or ignore provided information, on what they're eating?  And I must have missed it - what caliber shotgun do the servers use to force people to walk in the door, or order any specifically grotesque item?  (I would definitely boycott over that.)

I'm all for making restaurants provide accurate information on what they offer, but consumer responsibility has to factor in here somewhere as well.

“I figure I’ve got 1,350 calories here on my tray,” said Tristan Rowe, 26, who lives in Brooklyn, pointing to his lunch of a chicken club sandwich, junior bacon-cheeseburger, large fries and a large Coke (which actually added up to 1,680 calories). “It’s not going to change what I order — I’m not watching my waistline. I have a very active lifestyle.”

hahahahahahahah i laughed sooo hard at that!!!! 

Also gi-jane, many, many people in america don't eat out because they are WEALTHY (check the last census info, honey), they eat out because they work two jobs to support their families and don't have time to cook, or, because they don't have access to healthy ingredients, or, because McDonald's is CHEAPER than a meal of fresh local organic veggies, lean meat and healthy fats!  I'm sorry for the double post, but this is really pissing me off.

I like what NYC is doing here. All I want to know is the calorie count of the menu so I can decide. Now, I've gotten pretty good at guessing, like I know a petite grilled Sirloin or the grilled Salmon is probably going to be better a better option than the fried chicken dinner or the liver and onions, but it would be nice to know for sure, maybe this place brushes the food with a lot of oil before and while grilling it or does funky things to its rice to increase the calories.

I disagree with the notion that all those who eat at fast food joints don't care about their health. The fast food joints have done a pretty good job of having items on their menus that aren't dreadful for you, for instance, McD's has salad and fruit dishes, Wendy's has salads and chili, Burger King is coming out with apple fries (apples cut in the shape of french fries) and has salads, Taco Bell has its fresco menu...

I think the biggest benefit for consumers is that restaurants may decide to provide more lower calorie choices, for instance, that one place ran out of sirloins because so many people had chosen it. If they see that day in and day out, they'll have more sirloins on hand and maybe create other dishes with the same calorie profile.

And many people are shocked about muffin calories. The reason that  chocolate chip muffin in the article has so many calories isn't so much the chocolate chips (they probably add 100 max) it's the fact that it's huge! Maybe this will convince the muffin purveyors to start offering smaller, human sized muffins to consumers.

As for the bloomin onion being meant for 2-3 people, yes it is, but at 2100+ calories that is STILL 700 calories each for an appetizer!

I sat in a carl's jr once, having the one thing on the menu that I will even eat from there, and watched customers come in and order. While they waited for their food they took the time to read the HUGE poster on the wall of the calorie content of the menu items. Almost every single person who read the menu gasped in horror at the calorie content. I was sort of shocked at their reactions. I assumed people knew what they were eating, but apparently the majority is uneducated and unaware of calorie content. I'm all for posting calories if it helps ANYONE make a better decision.

I wish every place did this, then I could actually go out to eat more often.  I feel like I almost never get to go to a restaurant anymore.  I tried to get nutritional information from one of these big chains (TGI Friday's) and they just sent me a BS email saying that they could not disclose the recipe.  I told them that I did not want the recipe.  I just wanted the nutritional content (fat, sodium, etc).  They would not do it.   No more TGI Friday for me.   

santonacci:  You said: [[[Why in the world would I want to boycott Red Robin because someone else chooses to not educate themselves, or ignore provided information, on what they're eating?  And I must have missed it - what caliber shotgun do the servers use to force people to walk in the door, or order any specifically grotesque item?  (I would definitely boycott over that.)

I'm all for making restaurants provide accurate information on what they offer, but consumer responsibility has to factor in here somewhere as well.]]]

Didn't anything I just said about about systemic racism and classism make you reconsider your concept of "consumer responsibility"?!  We're talking about CORPORATIONS not SERVERS, about FORCED CHOICES not INFORMED CHOICES, about a really horrible problem that YOU TOO ARE SUPPORTING if you give your money to these irresponsible companies!  CONSUMER RESPONSIBILITY?  WHAT ABOUT CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY?!  Jesus.

Well I know alot of restaurants such as outback and chillies who have 2-3 days of calories into ONE appetizer are going to be slighty afraid to print their calorie content. Im glad they are forced to in NYC tho.  Ever since I started my personal weight loss journey, I must say I stopped enjoying restaurants very much. They serve you 2-3 meals on one plate, and even then the calorie content is high. There are a few reasons why Americans are so much heavier then every other country. First, a majority of jobs are desk jobs. Second, most people take the lazy route. A grocery store 5 feet away? Take the car! Third, yes restaurants. They are cheap, and serve fattening foods. The fatter people get, the more they eat, and the more money they make. Simple. And Forth, our entertainment is primarily the tv, movies and video games. Its how we raise our kids now too. No wonder kids are starting to become more obese too.

And yes, I totally agree with todeinotaton with restaurants are the same as cigarettes. How do cigarettes work? By smoking you get addicited and have to buy more and more to "feel good". Food? By serving more and more food, and people eating it all, people get fatter. What happens when people get bigger and bigger? They eat more. Hence they buy more. Even "healthy" restaurant meals have 1300-1800 calories at chains. By puttign calorie amounts next to prices, this forces the customer to become more aware and cut back eating out, and forces the restaurant to cater more healthy to lower that calorie number. The only issue is, if calorie listing is ONLY going to be for NYC, I would totally see the restaurants only changing the way they operate for NYC and leave every other city the same.

Education is NEEDED in the US, badly. I have a few friends that I talk to in other countries, sadly they all look at Americans as lazy and fat. (brutal I know). And sadly, with well over half of Americans overweight, they arent far off.

Oh and debcowan I read that article too, I was impressed they did a study on it. Glad that I was counting calories before that article came out, when I read it it gave a brief boast of confidence.

Original Post by gi-jane:

I believe it.  We've already heard of ridiculous court cases where people try to blame MacDonalds for their morbid obesity problem on the basis that they didn't know eating cheeseburgers every day was a stupid thing to do.    But that seems to me to be indicative of a much more fundamental breakdown in basic education than just 'not knowing the calories'.   I doubt the same person went home and dined on steamed fish and broccoli..... !

 Ha, ha.  I'm eating baked fish and spinach as I read this!

Original Post by bettypage4:

I wish every place did this, then I could actually go out to eat more often.  I feel like I almost never get to go to a restaurant anymore.  I tried to get nutritional information from one of these big chains (TGI Friday's) and they just sent me a BS email saying that they could not disclose the recipe.  I told them that I did not want the recipe.  I just wanted the nutritional content (fat, sodium, etc).  They would not do it.   No more TGI Friday for me.   

 God, that so dumb. Ive always thought about an email about nutritinal info. Apparently select dishes they release, which are found online (example about 1/4 of applebees menu can be found online calorie-wise) But, the bonus on NYC making chains put calories ...it will go on the internet and allow us to eat better when we go out to eat!!!!!!!

Aovermy I stand corrected abut people eating at fast food joints do not care about their health. Sadly most fast food places ARE healthier then the chain restaurants such as applebees and chilies. I should have pointed out people that eat fast food constantly on a daily basis probably don't care about their health. Despite the fast food places putting healthy choices on their menu, the meals aren't quite......balanced enough for constant eating. When you corrected me, I had to think, yes I care VERY much about my health, but recently on a road trip, by lack of planning I was kinda forced(speed eating fast food is godly for) to eat at wendies. Im personally very glad the fast food joints are shifting to more healthier options(they have taken alot of heat recently because of obesity in the US), and have been making an effort to while the sit -down chains get more and more unhealthy. Anways enough about that.

 

Original Post by jenningermany:

Original Post by gi-jane:

I believe it.  We've already heard of ridiculous court cases where people try to blame MacDonalds for their morbid obesity problem on the basis that they didn't know eating cheeseburgers every day was a stupid thing to do.    But that seems to me to be indicative of a much more fundamental breakdown in basic education than just 'not knowing the calories'.   I doubt the same person went home and dined on steamed fish and broccoli..... !

 Ha, ha.  I'm eating baked fish and spinach as I read this!

 Hurry go sue McDonalds for the obesity problems in the US!! :P

I eat out for one meal a week because I like eating out and I deserve it after a hard week of calorie counting :)  But, I only go to restaurants that post their nutritional information online.  That way I can keep my splurge in check.  There actually ARE moderately reasonable meals at most chain restaurants.  I decide what I want to order before I even step foot in the door, and I often don't even open the menu.  This helps me make a smart decision and allows me to enjoy myself before, during and after the meal.  And I never feel like I'm being cheated out of an enjoyable evening!

Edit: Knowledge is power!

Original Post by todeinotaton:

Didn't anything I just said about about systemic racism and classism make you reconsider your concept of "consumer responsibility"?! 

 No.  A person experiencing racism and classism can still be a responsible consumer. 

Even if people have absolutely no other choice but to eat at a McDonalds',  nobody is forcing them to order the Big Mac extra value meal instead of the southwestern chicken salad with light dressing and bottled water.  When I'm in a Red Robin, nobody forces my hubby to order the Royal Red Robin burger instead of the soup and salad combo. 

I believe in consumer responsibility AND corporate responsibility.  They are not mutually exclusive. 

And you might want to rethink the posting in all bold thing - there's no need to shout - it's just an internet forum.

Original Post by future_tadddei:

I eat out for one meal a week because I like eating out and I deserve it after a hard week of calorie counting :)  But, I only go to restaurants that post their nutritional information online.  That way I can keep my splurge in check.  There actually ARE moderately reasonable meals at most chain restaurants.  I decide what I want to order before I even step foot in the door, and I often don't even open the menu.  This helps me make a smart decision and allows me to enjoy myself before, during and after the meal.  And I never feel like I'm being cheated out of an enjoyable evening!

 Agreed, I also attempt to go to restaurants that post their nutrional information. However not enough restaurants do post the info I wish they did. And I still wish the moderatly resonable decisions were healthier. Im sure they could cook it healthier or SOMETHING to be more healthy. :P