omg i wish they will do that here is Egypt!i count calories and when i eat outside with friends everyone is talking and having fun and i'm the one who is sitting there thinking okay this piece of meat looks like its 120 grams 120 or 100 hmmm let assume its 150g or this pasta looks like its a cup and thats all i think about!!!&i'm always afraid to try anything new!i tell myself stick with the basics what if u didn't find the calorie of this new thing online!!!.and some times i eat something and when i go home and count the calories it turns out that i already consumed the calories of the day in 1 meal!!!!

i agree... i try really hard to know how many calories i consume each day. it would be nice to be able to go out to eat and know and exactly what i'm putting in my mouth and plan my portions accordingly. people need to be knowledgeable and make healthier choices. i think this is a great way to do it.

This would definetly make me think twice when ordering something, if the calories were posted right in my face before I ordered I don't think I'd even be able to bring myself to order the fatty foods

If people want to make informed decisions to improve their health then having that information would be extremely helpful. And if you want to go out and just enjoy a meal and not worry about the calories then don't look at the calorie count.
Personally I would really like to be able to access that information, however at higher end restaraunts it might be difficult to accurately count the calories in a meal with daily specials and chefs who have don't follow recipes exactly the same every time. I think this is more suited for fast food and chain restaraunts.

I wish there was more, and easily accessible, information out there. It's so tricky going out and not knowing how many calories you have consumed. Plus I know when I go to places where there is information available I make healthy choices because it is written in front of me that I am about to eat 1200calories in one plate of pasta.

I absolutely wish they would make putting calories on the menus a mandatory thing. It never occurs to me to ask about it when I'm eating out, but I know if it was right there I would definitely be more aware of what I'm eating, and I'm sure that's the case for a lot of people out there.

They do it on boxes and packages... why not on menus, too? Even if it is just an estimate.. its better than keeping us guessing... they are rarely 100% accurate anyway!

I don't know about the estimates part Romantique. There is a pizza joint right by me that has it posted that a slice of their pizza (avg. NYC slice, about as long as a notebook cover, wide as your hand) is only 140 calories. That just don't seem right,lol.
Sad part I heard two girls behind me thrilled that they could have two big slices of pizza for only 280 calories. Um, ladies, just because a number is posted don't make it true,lol.

well thats what I wanted to say, mostly I just laughed quietly to myself.

I'm conflicted. Most of the time, I want to know how much I'm consuming. Other times, I just want to indulge, but I think if I knew the calorie count I might feel too guilty.

Maybe in restaurants on the menus they could put the calorie counts behind little pee-a-boo tabs that you have to lift in order to see them. That way the people who don't want to know can just enjoy their food and have it their way too I'm all for being able to know how many calories I'm getting anywhere though!

I am very much for this.

Argh.. wrong button.

I am very much for this. Considering I live in the one of the most obese states in the country, I really think it would help people here (and all over) make wiser choices. Having the facts in front of you, might make people think twice before ordering 3 Big Macs.

I am for this. I'd really like to know what I am eating. America is becoming more and more obese. It also seems to me that a lot of people take the "If you don't know it won't kill you approach" to this type of thing. Just because they don't know the plate of pasta and Alfredo has more than their recommended daily intake doesn't mean that they won't gain a pound from it!

www.goodfoodnearyou.com gives you the calorie, fat, and carb count of menu items at the twenty closest fast food restaurants using the GPS on your iPhone, BlackBerry, and any internet browser

Smacks.. lol... your pizza story reminded me of the "fat free" yogurt Seinfeld commercial.. the one where Elaine ate a ton and gained a bunch of weight cuz it wasn't really fat free.

I wish restaurants would post this info but as smacks pointed out I would question it's accuracy and who's monitoring *that*.

.... correction: Seinfeld EPISODE.. not commercial. Where did I get commercial? *shaking my head at myself*

I definitely support this idea. Not only would I like to know what I'm eating, but I think everyone should have to face the reality of what they are doing to themselves. Wanting to indulge without knowing or caring about calories is a dangerous mindset. Occasional indulgence is ok, but should be knowingly done.

they can put it up if they want.

there should not be a law that mandates it.

freedoms, people. Freedoms.

These laws seem harmless and for "the greater good" but there are unintended consequences. For example, when NYC started this, they made it so that all restaurants that post their calories publicly had to put it on the menu board.

Instead of complying, the restaurants just pulled their content from the public so as to not have to make menu boards with the counts.

Read what Cold Stone did:
"We regret that Cold Stone Creamery can no longer publicly post nutritional information on our website. This development is a result of the New York City Department of Health's decision to pass a regulation requiring restaurants that already publicly provide caloric information, to post product calories on their menu boards - using the same type size as the product listing.

We fully support the intent of this regulation; however, since most of our products are made-to-order, there simply isn't enough room on our existing menu boards to comply with the regulation. As a result, we will no longer be able to provide nutritional information on our website or to residents and customers of our New York City stores. We regret this inconvenience."

Ideally I'd love to see every restaurant do this, but I respect that smaller mom-and-pop places could suffer more if it were required. In my opinion, fast food and chains should be required. I don't understand why more of them don't do it voluntarily.

I appreciate when restaurants do this, but I don't think it should be mandatory. Smaller/independent eateries would have an unproportionate cost if this were law... This about it... Chains with 1,000 restaurants and only a couple dozen menu items only have to test their food once, whereas single restaurants with just as many (if not more) menu items have to test once as well. Not to mention independent restaurants change their menus much more often, so they'll have to test more often as well or not change their menus and risk patrons getting bored and going elsewhere. And if you try to regulate it by saying that only chains with X# of restaurants have to test & post that info, that may be unfair too...

I'll just stick to eating at places that I know prepare healthy, fresh food in a responsible manner. I have lots of friends in the business, so it's easy to figure out where to eat and where not to... Oh, and generally eating half-portions of whatever's in front of me...

i think this is a great idea. it would be really helpful especially on those days that i don't have time to make my food at home. i would love if this would happen everywhere.

they should, but I think it will scare a number of customers away.

I like the idea of posting calorie counts at restaurants because it'd make dining out a lot easier for people who are trying to watch how many calories they eat. However, it'd only be realistic to do this at chain restaurants and fast food places that have a fixed menu. Most high-end restaurants don't usually measure their ingredients too precisely and each time they make the dish, the calorie count could vary by a lot. Actually, the calorie count for the chain dishes could be off by quite a bit as well...the calories in a package of frozen vegetables would be a lot different than those same vegetables thrown into a pan with half a stick of butter.

Yes although I can excuse it more for those random mom and pop places.

I think it's awesome. You're sitting there in a restaurant, craving something, then see the calorie count, and BOOM! Reality check and you order something more healthful. I think it's a wonderful thing to have and I hope more places become more amenable to it.

I agree with a lot of the sentiments expressed already by posters, I think this would be really helpful for people who are watching their weight. It would also help people (ME!) make the right decisions about food. I look a dessert and just drool and want some but if the calories and serving size was posted I'd run for the door, well I'm sure I would. It could also get the restaurants and fast food places to clean up the way they prepare food and make it healthier so people will still come in.

I don't think it needs to be individually posted like the example in the picture but accessible at the counter, or how they have those posters up. It is fast food after all, you can't have something entirely healthy that costs $1. I agree that our country is this way because of fast food and also the abundance of restaurants. I was in Spain a few weeks ago, no fatties!

Knowing that something is fatty or high-calorie isn't going to stop me from ordering it, but it would be REALLY nice to have the info so I'd know how much to cut back on the rest of my meals.

I wish all places would do it. I know that it would be hard for little mom and pop shops but it's not that hard for chains because most of them have it on their websites anyway. It'll help us make good choices and make sure to save some for lunch the next day.

I don't think it should be mandatory, but I think it'd be helpful at fast food and chain restaurants.

If I'm going to a really nice place I don't want to be bombarded with calorie counts, but at a fast food or chain restaurant they have a tendency of putting weird stuff in their food so you can't really gauge what's high or low in calories. For instance some of the salads at Red Robin have a LOT of calories and that would be nice to know.

I think it should definitely be mandatory. As a reformed capitalist, I realise that there are many ignorant people out there who have been conditioned to be this way simply so that they can be exploited. It's our duty to help these people to see the system for what it really is. Okay, now it sounds like I'm not talking about food anymore. I basically mean that people have the right to make informed decisions.

I agree with hippiecowgirl - this regulation could be very difficult for smaller, mom-and-pop type restaurants to comply with. But the big chains (McD's, Chili's, etc.) have nothing to complain about. They've got the money to comply, but they're probably just terrified that people will figure out how **unhealthy** their food is!

I think the information should be accessible, but not necessarily posted on the board. If I want to indulge I want to do so without feeling too guilty. If I want to eat healthy I'd love to have the info available, but to post it on the board is a bit too much i think.

It would be nice, but the problem is that restaurants could post whatever calorie count they wanted to and we have to take their word for it. There is no calorie police that check the food and make sure that they are giving us correct information!

Anyways.. usually if I know I am going to a particular restaurant, I will glance at the menu online before I go and get an idea of what would be a good choice.

I've noticed this movement along with putting calorie counts on the front of food packaging and let me tell you, it is playing holy hell with my eating disorder. the biggest part of overcoming any eating disorder, i think, is leaving the calorie count ALONE. Just as I've started to train myself out of it, now I can't go anywhere without being confronted with it.

People are too obsessed with calories. No one ever cares about the protein or vitamins in the food, no one's paying attention to portion size, no one considers that fat is often good for you. Nope, we just want to know the calories. It's pathetic.