New York Calls For Calorie Information At Restaurants
January 22, 2008 – 1:41 pmThe “Big Apple” is once again leading the way in restaurant reform. Last year the city mandated “no transfats” at all eateries in the city. This year, they are working to mandate that fast food and other chain restaurants display calorie counts next to their menu items.
Here is a glimpse of the future of menu boards in New York.
The city Board of Health planned to vote Tuesday for a second time on the requirement for major fast-food chains, which make up about 10 percent of the city’s restaurants. A federal judge struck it down in September, but indicated that the rule would be acceptable if it were expanded to include more restaurants.
If the measure is approved, any large fast-food chain would have to list calorie counts prominently on their menu boards. Several chains, like McDonald’s and Burger King, have the information available, but don’t list it on the menu boards that customers read before ordering.
City officials are hoping that the clear display of this information will help people realize exactly how many calories they are consuming. They are also hoping that it will spur the eateries to offer healthier choices on their menus.
I think this is a great idea and hope that it comes to pass in all States. There is no reason to be an uninformed consumer in today’s information age.
What are your thoughts? Would seeing the number of calories in an entree’ make you think twice before eating it?
2 Responses to “New York Calls For Calorie Information At Restaurants”
I think this is a great idea. I think they should also list grams of fat, and percentages based on 2000 kcal supposing 25% fat in diet, or whatever we’re supposed to be shooting for these days. I think that if a person doesn’t actively seek out this information (i.e., they haven’t been dieting their whole life), it’s too easy to think most of that crap just isn’t so bad.
By julie on Jan 24, 2008
This MUST be done. This kind of information (and more) is mandated for food packaging labels so that consumers have ready access to information that they need to make their own, informed decisions. We need the same access to that kind of information when we go out to eat. Then, we can decide if we eat something healthy or something that we just crave.
By Bob Allen on Jan 26, 2008