Restaurants and Nutrition Information

Hi,

Today was my son's birthday. We celebrated yesterday so that the whole family could come to the party. They had to work today. Anyways, he had pizza yesterday. Today, I took him out to spend some of his birthday money and decided to take him out for a quick bite before coming home at Burger King. Mind you, this is the first time I've had fast food since I've started counting calories.

Yesterday when we ordered the pizza, I politely asked for the nutrition information for their pizzas. Granted, we ordered from a store here that has a deli, but when I asked, the woman simply couldn't believe I wanted to know the nutrition information for PIZZA?!? (as she put it). She handed the phone off to someone else and I could hear her in the background saying "Whoever heard of nutrition in pizza." It literally made me want to bop her in the back of the head. I only wanted an estimate for the calories in it. Anyways, I politely told the woman I was then talking to that I could hear the other woman in the background and that I would get it elsewhere. Seeing as we had a party, we were buying 6 pizzas.

Then tonight, I asked for some sort of pamplet containing nutrition information about the foods at Burger King. They looked at me like I was a complete idiot and rummaged around only to come up with a very OLD piece of cardboard containing the calorie information for maybe 5 menu items. These items were nothing short of the basics.

Have any of you had to deal with attitudes like that when eating out? As I said, I've only eaten out once since I started counting in October.

It looks like these restaurants would have that sort of information readily available for customers.

Anyways, I just needed to vent. I'm stopping smoking tomorrow and am freaking out about that. Makes me wonder if I'm just being too dern touchy...

I wish restaurants kept the nutritional information handy, but they rely on websites for that and expect people to either check the website before they go, or look it up after and kick themselves.

When I worked full time at a pizza shop, I wrote out the nutritional information myself, copied from the website, the labels in the kitchen, and the information I got on Calorie-Count.  We did have people ask us how many carbs were in things, how much sodium, etc, etc.. and I was the only person with that information.  So whenever someone asked, I had to stop what I was doing, go out front, explain, and then shamelessly promote Calorie-Count.  I made a couple of good friends that way.

Too bad more employees can't be as considerate as me. =(

I emailed Cracker Barrel this week to get the nutrition information.  They sent me a reply about how they pride themselves on making quality food with the best ingredients (chocolate & butter are excellent INGREDIENTS, but they don't make the HEALTHIEST foods!)  and listed some pointers of how to choose some of their healthier foods. 

 I have found that many restaurants have this information on their websites.  Some (like Taco Bell & Steak 'N Shake) have calculators you can use to total up your calories depending on the specific ingredients in your food.  I have found that they probably don't want you to know there are 4 billion calories in their fries just before you order them.  At any rate, it is difficult to know exactly what you are eating when you dine out.  You can also print out many of these menus and keep them in your vehicle.

So far, planning has helped me...I have a couple of items from each restaurant that I know I will eat.  This way, if I happen to end up eating out, I will be prepared and be less inclined to chose the easy route.  

"Whoever heard of nutrition in pizza?"-- This is terribly awesome!  It is as if she believes there is zero nutrition in pizza...thanks for a good laugh!!

When I worked at KFC we had a pamphlet with all the calories and information for the food we had there. Nobody ever asked for it, but we had it handy just in case. It probably depends where you go -shrug-

Here is an interesting story about calories and fast food.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/11/16/60m inutes/main3513549.shtml

I personally go for it, everywhere.

I know that if I had walked up to order a meal and it was posted next to it, "1390 Calories" there is no way I would have ever ordered it. I've never counted calories before, but I was aware that 1390 calories was wayyyyyyyyyy to much for 1 meal.

Other interesting/helpful links:

http://www.restaurant.org/pressroom/pressrele ase.cfm?ID=1405

http://www.healthydiningfinder.com/site/

Edit: To add extra links.

 

It's interesting that the Burger King people looked at you funny.  The Burger King close to my house has all of their nutritional information actually posted in the restaurant on a huge framed poster at the beginning of the ordering line (doesn't help in the drive thru, but they might have pamphlets available).  I realize each franchise is different, but I would think something like that would be available to each location. 

I also think that the CC database has a pretty good selection of Burger King stuff so you don't have to enter it manually, if you're logging.

I too like the "nutrition in pizza" comment - what exactly does she think is on pizza, anyway?  LOL!

I've only had a slight reaction to that once when I've eaten out before.  It was more of a hesitation, like the waitress couldn't comprehend why someone would ask for it.  Or it might have been she didn't know what I meant by "nutritional information" - if I had asked about calorie and fat content it's possible I might have gotten a different reaction.  Of course,  lot of the time when I eat out I either plan ahead and get the nutritional information from the website or here, or I already know that nutritional info isn't available and I'll have to resort to either guestimating or just asking how something was prepared so I put the info together later.

Here, I found this site which seems very helpful.  It includes burger king and many other restaurants:

http://www.shapefit.com/fastfood.html

I found this site which has TONS of restaurants' nutrition information - and a list of the ones that wouldn't play ball. If I'm going out to eat, I just try to find the healthiest-sounding choices on the menu, and then I worry about the calorie count when I get home. But I did wish that more restaurants would provide it - it should be compulsory for restaurant chains to have at least SOMETHING on their website! It's all very well to say 'we use quality ingredients' - double cream and tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil are 'quality' and I don't want them in my meal :P 

http://www.dietfacts.com/fastfood.asp

Thanks everyone. I'll have to plan ahead next time or simply not eat out period. It was sort of a whim thing.

In one of those articles, I noticed that they're trying to force these fast food places to post the nutritional information on the menu boards. I think that's a wonderful idea and would certainly educate a majority of the population that has very little clue how many unhealthy calories they're putting into their bodies.

Not everyone has access to a computer at home. If they can't get the information from the restaurants, how else are they going to get it?

In all fairness, the people who are working the counter are just there to take your money; I wouldn't expect them to be nutritional info mavens.

Also, a lot of restaurants really have no idea how many calories are in their food. They can run their stuff through an analyzer to get a rough estimate, but even that isn't 100% accurate.

Do you really expect a mom and pop greasy spoon to start weighing out how many grams of butter they're throwing onto the griddle for every single order?

Every restaurant mentioned on this thread so far is a chain (and most of them fast food) and in those types of restaurants, most items are pre-portioned and prepared systematically/methodically.  Every Burger King Whopper is prepared the same way, until you get to the "add ons", of which only cheese and mayo make a significant fat or calorie difference.

Those types of restaurants could easily calculate the nutrition for most if not all their items, and they SHOULD.

Original Post by dm84:

In all fairness, the people who are working the counter are just there to take your money; I wouldn't expect them to be nutritional info mavens.

Also, a lot of restaurants really have no idea how many calories are in their food. They can run their stuff through an analyzer to get a rough estimate, but even that isn't 100% accurate.

Do you really expect a mom and pop greasy spoon to start weighing out how many grams of butter they're throwing onto the griddle for every single order?

If I can do it at home, they can find a system that's time saving and works. It would be easy to have specific scoops, or measuring devices, for all ingredients. Their purpose is to make a profit by offering a product. Informing customers wouldn't hurt these restaurants. And they wonder why obesity is growing.

No, I don't expect EVERY food-selling place to give COMPLETE nutritional information. But even a rough estimate would help. Right now I'm having to guess (though I must be doing something right, because I'm losing weight hand over fist!) If they're following a recipe to make a dish, it shouldn't be too hard to figure out a calorie count for that recipe and put it in print some place.

I thought it was required for resturants to have access to there customers either in resturant or via the web to the nutritional info.....I usually look up things online and plan exactly what I am going to get but I did have issues when I went to safeway the other day and wanted some really nummy looking brocolii beef....they asked the cook and he didn't know either so then I asked him what kind of oil was used and such he looked at me funny but he showed me....

Original Post by alyssandra:

I thought it was required for resturants to have access to there customers either in resturant or via the web to the nutritional info.....

I'm not aware of that requirement.  If it's there, it's more likely regional, and there are probably situations where it doesn't apply to some restaurants.  However, if it is required, even for just chain restaurants with a consistent menu, Red Robin needs to get on the ball.

Santo is right. Not required by any federal law.

Easy enough to go online and check beforehand.. especially since you were calling ahead to find out the info...in the case of the pizza/deli restaurant, I should think this site offers enough of an estimate to make an educated assumption about nutritional info.

Even though I'm not dieting anymore, I still carry around my calorieking.com book most of the time...although I pretty much know what I will get most anywhere I go, I've definitely gotten my $8 worth out of it. If you go to www.calorieking.com you can order one there.

I have never asked for nutritional information at the restaurant because i always make sure to look it up online before I go ( and i only really go to places that post thier nutritional info) but I do get strange looks from my waiters/waitresses when I ask for specifics when i order my food. I will ask what is on the salad, tell them what i don't want, dressing on the side, all food cooked with no butter, etc. I get weird looks but it's my body. Although sometimes i wonder if they really write down my wishes or not. At least you try.

McDonalds here now put all of their nutritional info on the packets that they serve the food in. Useful because you don't need to remember to ask while you're at the store (and since the only time I'm there is with a hangover, it's useful to be able to think about it after the recovery food)

There is a site called Dotties Weight Loss Zone and it has most restraunts and popular brands calorie counts.  It is a fabulous place to get information!

I definately feel your pain! I actually started printing off nutritional info to lots of restaurants i go to. I take my grandma to do her errands on the weekends every weekend  and we ALWAYS go to lunch. I keep the nutritional info in my purse (It's a big purse). I've already highlighted what items are good or better than others. This way I can make smart decisions no matter where we are. If we go to a place that I don't have info for. I try to find something similar on one of my other menus to give me an idea of the calorie cost. It sounds tedious but I can usually plan ahead where we are going and be prepared.

This way I also don't feel out of luck or make poor decisions when a spur of the moment trip to a restaurant or fast food place comes up. By now I've memorized a few items at some of the places we frequent so it's a lot less work. Good Luck!