Calories on menus: A good idea?
Most of you have probably read by now that the recently passed U.S. health care legislation includes a provision that would require restaurants with a certain number of locations to post the calorie amounts in food items on the menu. In case you have not, here is an Associated Press story about the requirement.
My husband and I were debating the other day whether we thought this would really keep people from ordering high-calorie menu items like double-decker bacon cheeseburgers and fried chicken dinners. I think restaurants will certainly see some effects of the labeling, but I’m really curious as to the extent of the impact.
I’d like to open this up for discussion here on the blog. Do you think the provision is a good idea? Do you believe it will affect your purchasing decisions, or the decisions of others?
April 1, 2010 - 10:52 AM
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It would be nice to have that information, just so you know what you’re getting. I don’t think it will necessarily cause average people to eat less, but for those who are actively dieting while still maintaining a social life, it might help.
Of course the flaw in this plan is that portions and ingredient-ratios can vary by location, chef, day, etc. This is already a potential issue with fast food nutrition listings, but I suspect that it would be even more of a problem with sit-down restaurants.
I think it’s a great idea. It will show people what they are really eating and the ones that want to make better choices will be able to! Eating out is tricky, something that looks like it might be better for you, probably isn’t with all the oils and butter they cook it with.
It may not impact what some people eat, but knowing the calorie count of food and drinks did impact my habits greatly. I got onto a website, I forget the name though, that allowed you to input what you ate for each meal, and it then calculated the caloric and nutritional values of the food so you could review it. I found that my typical breakfast was an awful thing to do, more than half a day’s worth of calories and fat in one meal, and it wasn’t even that filling, it was just convenient. I discovered that I was eating a lot of empty calories, and by the time I finished my lunch, I was exceeding the daily limits for practically everything bad. So, I adjusted what I ate, and where, and it made a huge impact. In just 2 months of that, I lost 20 pounds, simply by watching what I ate and counting the amount of calories, fat, sugar, and salt in the food. I found that when I really know what’s in the burger & fries I used to get for lunch, I would avoid it. Now a typical lunch is along the lines of what I’m having today: a bed of steamed rice with veggies, topped with herbed/grilled, skinless chicken tenderloins, and a touch of aged Wisconsin cheddar cheese. And it’s homemade, so it only cost me maybe $1.50 for the ingredients to make it. One batch of that is good for 3-4 meals, so it’s healthy and saves money.
I think it’s a great idea too. I’m sure it will cause some people to change their ordering decision, but I’m sure also that there will be a lot of people who could not care less. It will definitely affect my decisions.
It would definitely help with my calorie counting.
Ruby Tuesday tried putting its calorie counts on its menus for a five month period in 2004. It was a disaster. They quit saying it provide too costly to keep reprinting the menus anytime a recipe was changed. But it seemed more like a response to decling sales due to shocking calorie counts.
Perhaps restaurants will be forced to take a hard look at their product and come up with slimmed-down versions of their dishes.
Traveling to NYC over Christmas I was happy to see calorie counts on menus and even the order boards on places like Starbucks. Not really new info for me since I’m an avid calorie tracker, but it was a great reminder and offered some insights on a few new restaurants. The shocker for me isn’t necessarily fat or calories, but sodium. 2x the RDA for sodium in one entree is toooo much, regardless of how low fat the item might be.
I think Ruby Tuesday’s made their info available during the major upswing in the Atkins diet-lots of steaks and mashed cauliflower on the menu gave them an advantage they wanted to exploit. They actually still offer that info readily on their website(the numbers are quite scary) unlike many other chains like Applebee’s who make it VERY difficult to find anything.
And I completely see the claim that “we cant do that because portions vary and ingredients change, blah, blah, blah” as a total cop out. NYC only requires folks that have more than 20 outlets to provide the info, and I understand the new law would be built the same way. Any place with 20 outlets is so standardized that any person off the street could come in a make a menu item and guarantee the serving size, calorie count and probably even the garnish without thinking twice.
One of the big things is the portion sizes. When we did eat out, I found that the typical ‘serving’ of food was really a good 2, amybe even 3, meals worth of food. My wife and I took to sharing entrees because of the huge portions, it saved money and cut down on leftovers and wasted money. I look now and it’s sort of no wonder obesity is such a huge problem. A lot of people think the typical restaurant sized steak, salad, and mashed potatoes is really representative of what a single serving ought to be, it’s not even close…it should actually feed a family of 2 adults and 2 kids pretty easily.
When I’m out at lunch, I am usually interested in this information.
However, if I’ve already set my sights on dinner out, I really don’t want to know. It really only matters to me if it’s something I eat regularly.
I remember when Ruby Tuesday tried this. Pretty scary to see sodium amounts up in the several thousands, 1200 calorie turkey burgers with more than a day’s worth of fat and their totals didn’t even include the side dish. Seems like the ribs were also some crazy amount of calories. The healthiest thing on the menu was the sirloin steak – how many people would have called that one?
I like having the info available but would prefer it not be printed right there on the menu. Eating out is a special occasion for me and every now and then I’d like to enjoy and just not know.
I think Michelle and J make a good point that sometimes we are out to eat as a special treat and we don’t really want to know how many calories we are consuming because it is a rare occurrence anyway. But for those who dine out on a regular basis, especially if they are hitting drive-thru, it could be a good nudge in a healthier direction.
I used to clean my plate at restaurants, but when I met my husband, he had the habit of almost NEVER leaving a restaurant without some leftovers, so I began to do the same.
OJ, you and your wife find a lot of split plate fees? Do you think split plate fees are fair?
I think it is very helpful. With the Weight Watchers Points Finders you need to know the calories & fat to figure the points. Others are correct, most restaurant dishes are way over-proportioned and over-salted. I agree with splitting dishes also. Why should I pay for 2 servings when I only eat one? I don’t have anyone to share with, so I always take a portion home; if I had a dinner partner the price is the same no matter who eats it.
The only thing that would bother me is that my dinner partner can see how many calories I am consuming! lol
One troubling aspect for me is the increase in the cost of business to the business owner. These types of analyses aren’t cheap as anyone who has experienced product-labelling requirements will tell you.
I could argue – the more info, the better, but I’m feeling like going out is going to be like going to the school cafeteria. I’m also really troubled how this will negatively affect more creative restaurants wiht non-standardized. The chef will be truly hampered at going to the local fish/meat/farmers market and building a menu based on the best of what is there. In the nation’s bigger cities, many restaurant companies own many more than the threshold of 20 restaurants, so don’t think of this as just targeting McD’s.
Lindsey, of the places we went, we never did get charged a split plate fee…I always checked. I think those are a way to glean additional profits our of customers, because I know it doesn’t cost much to wash the extra dish…and I’ve heard most split plate fees run a dollar or two. As for fair…it really depends. At a few places we ate at, they would give some extra amounts on the side dishes and I would pay the fee if they charged it, since we were basically getting an additional side dish (I would tip extra and thank the managers when that happened…we were regulars so I think that was their perk to keep us coming). For the places that simply bring the entree plated as normal with a spare plate, where we have to do the splitting ourselves, nope…I would not consider that to be fair, and if we were charged a fee, I would not consider returning. But alas, we haven’t eaten out in nearly 2 months, save a couple instances of fries and drinks at Wendy’s. Too many things have wheat or prohibited herbs & spices that cause my wife and I too many problems.
As long as the law applies to chain restaurants only, then I can see the positive benefit outweighing the negatives. Before I read the link, my first thought was – ‘How is a Mom & Pop restaurant going to know how many calories are in their dishes?’
The problem with limiting this to chains, though is this – There will certainly be chains that initiate lawsuits saying they are being discriminated against since small restaurants don’t have to do this.
Bottom line – restaurants SHOULD do this, if at all practible, without having to create a law forcing them to do so.
OJ, you made an excellent point. I’ve had restaurant staff give me extra side dishes on a split plate without asking, and I wasn’t even a regular. I always reward good service with a good tip.
Jim, those are also good observations. I’m curious as to how many restaurants with 20 or more locations base their menu on local food purchases the way you describe.
I’d love it if this resulted in restaurants letting people over 10 and under 65 order from the smaller-portion menus they already offer. Splitting an entree with someone else only works if you want the same thing! I am tired of always having to take home 2/3 of my meal. One more meal of it is cool, but not the third time around!
Connie, I’ve found that I can order off the kids menu pretty much anywhere. The portions are much more realistic, and the price far better. Cracker Barrel is the one that sticks in my mind the most, since it was most recent.
Lindsey, take the example of someone like Mario Batali. He owns somewhere in the neighborhood of 15 to 20 restaurants. Each has its own executive chef charged with being creative within the bounds of the theme of the restaurant. This could be viewed as a fringe example, but many of the finer restuarants in the US are members of restaurant “syndicates” with common ownership.
Jim D, Mario Batali may be associated with 15-20 restaurants, but they aren’t different locations of the same restaurant. The AP article (and the NY rules) don’t apply to common owners, but common restaurants. I’ve eaten at several of his restaurants and none have calories available since its not required for restaurants of that nature nor does it appear that will be the case when new rules take effect. Think Chili’s, TGIF, Applebees, Denny’s…where 10′s of millions of Americans eat (and do damage to themselves) daily.