City Tries Again to Require Restaurants to Post Calories
New Yorkers wondering just how many calories they are consuming in each grande-size white hot chocolate at Starbucks (490) or Double Whopper with cheese at Burger King (990) could soon see those numbers printed alongside the price, according to revised regulations approved on Tuesday by the city’s Board of Health.
Under the rules, which officials rewrote after a federal judge struck down similar provisions in September, any chain that operates at least 15 outlets nationwide would have to display calorie content on their menu boards, menus or food tags — essentially wherever the restaurant lists the information that customers use to make their choices.
“Most people underestimate calorie content by a lot,” said Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, the city’s health commissioner, adding that he considered the rules a potent weapon in the crusade against rising obesity rates. “Even dietitians get a lot of it wrong.”
Dr. Frieden said his department’s research showed that consumers often make faulty assumptions about the calorie counts of items on a menu. But when they have the information, he said, they tend to choose food with fewer calories.
As a result of the regulations, set to go into effect on March 31, Dr. Frieden predicted that some restaurants will eliminate some of their offerings, like appetizers that top 2,000 calories.
posted by Rachel Paiste @ 3:57 AM
1 Comments:
I think it's a great idea restaurants are being asked to post info. It's amazing how hard restaurant chains are fighting to hide their nutrition information. It's hard to eat well when eating out, especially when you have dietary needs or want to watch your calorie intake. Often food items that seem healthy and are marketed that way are not. For this reason, my company just launched a new service called Wellternatives that lets people find nutrition info for thousands of chain restaurants — right from their cell phone or on the web. It also makes recommendations for a healthier alternative to your favorite restaurant meals, hence the name... Wellternatives. Would love to hear what you think of it! Sara
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