Do You Think All Fast Food and Chain Restaurants Should Post Calorie Counts?

Get the best of POPSUGAR
Fitness — in your inbox!

Help us customize your newsletter by selecting your interests (optional):

Yoga Working Out Running Weight Loss

Do You Think All Fast Food and Chain Restaurants Should Post Calorie Counts?

April 24, 2009

It began in NYC and made its way to the West Coast, then skipped over the Atlantic and hit the UK.

I am talking about posting calorie counts in fast food and chain restaurants, be it on a menu board at McDonald's or a printed menu from the likes of Macaroni Grill or TGI Friday's. Many restaurants are resistant to the laws and voluntary programs too. What do you think . . .

Source

Poll Calorie Counts

38 Comments

2 years 15 weeks

I think it is convenient to have the calorie counts posted. The thing I don't like is that while food chains with more than 20 locations have to meet the new guidelines the requirement is not universal to all restaurants. Also grocery stores that sell deli sandwiches don't have to comply but a Subway does. Either make it for everyone or don't do it.

4 years 3 weeks

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.

smaine07 4 years 3 weeks

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.

brookrene 4 years 3 weeks

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.

bibelot 4 years 3 weeks

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!

closetrebels 4 years 3 weeks

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.

annissa 4 years 3 weeks

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.

JaimeLeah526 4 years 3 weeks

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.

flyingchange 4 years 3 weeks

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. :)

tatsauce 4 years 3 weeks

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!

divinedebris 4 years 3 weeks

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.

superfoxml 4 years 3 weeks

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.

aimeeb 4 years 3 weeks

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

Spectra 4 years 3 weeks

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.

Allytta 4 years 3 weeks

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

ihaveaqtsn 4 years 3 weeks

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.

fcseamstress 4 years 3 weeks

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...

hippiecowgirl 4 years 3 weeks

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.

syako 4 years 3 weeks

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."

syako 4 years 3 weeks

they can put it up if they want. there should not be a law that mandates it. freedoms, people. Freedoms.

darc5204 4 years 3 weeks

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.

dunnonuttin 4 years 3 weeks

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

dunnonuttin 4 years 3 weeks

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*.

4 years 3 weeks

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

MrsRachel 4 years 3 weeks

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!

Link Love

38 Comments

You Might Also Like