food chains having to post nutritional info

dr.mel_PT

dr.mel_PT

Cathlete
what do you think will come of the potential new law that restuarant chains are required to post nutritional info? do you think this will cause them to be more mindful of what they put into their meals? do you also think once people get the gist of how bad some of the food is for them, they will eat out less and this might hurt the industry?
 
i think they should post all nutritional information. i don't know how it will affect the choices of the general population, but it will definitely help me in deciding what i want to order. i hope it gets restaurants and fast food places to add more healthful items to their menus, but i wouldn't want it to go overboard either...sometimes i just like a decadent meal and even looking at the nutritional profile wouldn't stop (may make cringe a bit) me.
 
Some chains have already made this information available, and it has helped me make a decision as to what I order. I'm glad to see it becoming mandatory, it eliminates one excuse---the "I had no idea how many calories that double-fudge-triple-quadruple-scoop-of-chocolate-ice-cream-with-whipped-cream on it had." :p
 
I always look at a restaurants web-site for nutrtion info before dining there. Not so sure as it will change peoples habits, I would like to think it would. I think the average person doesn't count calories & portion size though.
 
I would love if all restaurants posted their nutritional info... I don't think it would hurt business at all...

If I am trying to eat clean when I eat out, I don't care if the cost of the meal is more expensive.. ( well a few more dollars anyways) . And, I'll order the more expensive fish as opposed to something like the pasta dish to make sure I am getting good nutrition.

What does worry me is the accuracy of the food that is actually made in the restaurant is actually made the way it was when the nutritionals were done. Applebees' got a whole slew of grief when their weight watcher menu was chemically tested to see if it was actually the amount of points the menu stated. It was wayyyy off... the cooks in the kitchen had added additional butter to the vegges and the calories and fat were significantly higher.

I work in the foodservice industry and I know that many times the people preparing the food have no knowledge or concern on whether or not they are using the exact recipe. If you are dieting, unless you are eating plain raw veggies, there is no guarantee you aren't getting some extra calories in your meal from the fats they use to cook or the portion size of the meal isn't significantly bigger than what the menu stated.

Lynn M.
 
I love it when restaurants post their nutritional information, but I despise government intrusion in these matters. There may be some clueless people out there who don't know how much fat, salt, and sugar is contained in typical restaurant fare, but when I go out to eat I usually plan on treating myself to something that I wouldn't ordinarily have at home, and having access to the nutritional info isn't likely to affect my choice when ordering. If you're concerned about it, you can always ask for a piece of grilled fish or chicken breast and a salad with dressing on the side. Most restaurants will accommodate special requests, especially simple ones like this. More and more I'm seeing a trend away from personal responsibility with the government standing ready to encroach upon us.
 
I don't like the idea, because I think it will hurt the non-chain restaurants. Most of the places I go have daily specials, seasonal, and sometimes weekly menu changes; I doubt that they have the time and personnel to take care of something like this. I'm with Michelle, when I go out to eat, which is rare, I'm usually splurging, celebrating, and/or just not giving a damn about how many calories or how much fat the dish has. If I cared that much, I'd just stay at home where I have complete control (or as much as DH let's me have, since he's in charge of cooking!).
 
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While I think it is a good idea to make it a law, I don't know how it would affect the food industry. But this thread reminded me of when I was in Seattle this spring for vacation. Because we were on vacation, my DH wanted to treat himself to IHOP (in Federal Way) and they had all of the nutritional facts right there on the menu! I couldn't believe it! 3000 calorie meal here, 2500 calorie meal there, tons of fat and sugar. Basically, it had all these numbers at the end of each item with slashes between them. I asked the server what they were and she said that's calories/fat/saturated fat/ cholesterol...and so on and you could tell she had it memorized. Probably got that question a lot! Needless to say, we haven't been to IHOP since...so I bet the food industry will not like it if it becomes a law!

If requiring nutritional information on all menus did become a law, I think it would force Americans to see the numbers and to realize what they are putting in their body. Can you believe that $100 billion a year is spent on fast food in the US? That's an average of over $300 a year per person (based on last years population of 304M)! They could have bought STS!
 
Maybe I'd feel differently if I ate out more often, but when I'm eating out, I don't want to obsess about calories and what is more nutritious. I want to obsess about wheither I want salmon or scallops, what kind of wine to order and if I'll have enough room left for dessert.
 
TeTe said:
I don't like the idea, because I think it will hurt the non-chain restaurants. Most of the places I go have daily specials, seasonal, and sometimes weekly menu changes; I doubt that they have the time and personnel to take care of something like this. I'm with Michelle, when I go out to eat, which is rare, I'm usually splurging, celebrating, and/or just not giving a damn about how many calories or how much fat is in a dish. If I cared that much, I'd just stay at home where I have complete control (or as much as DH let's me have, since he's in charge of cooking!).
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Excellent point, TeTe!! DH and I almost NEVER eat at chains, favoring our local independent restaurants, which have much higher standards and better food overall. Most of them use fresh, seasonal produce from local producers, too, so you're supporting your community all the way around. It would be darn near impossible for them to comply with nutritional information mandates.
 
I live in NY where this has been in existence for awhile. Like so many things, all of the "chicken littles" freaking out about the effect on business and how this was all "big brother" and that nonsense were proven soundly wrong. This hasn't effected the industry in the least. If you think you know what's in your food, take a look at the book "Eat This Not That." Even the stuff you think is good, isn't. Let's face it, Chili's and The Olive Garden are not "going out to eat." That's just sit-down fast-food and that is who this initiative is primarily targeted at. The food is mind-boggling unhealthy and people should get to make not just choices, but informed choices. In some of these places, what you don't know CAN kill you. And the general population of the country isn't as well-versed on nutrition as this board's well-informed community. I don't understand the aversion to information in the first place, however.
 
I like to know the calorie counts in my restaurant food...sometimes! :p
I don't know if it will change how people eat, but it would be nice to not have to work so hard to find the info.
Although, I would hope there are some exceptions made for the smaller locally owned restaurants. My daughter works for a family restaurant and they have a wide variety of choices, but a very small staff.I suppose though it wouldn't be too terribly hard to figure out each meal's calorie count and add it to the menu. The menu itself doesn't change often.
Hmmm, now I don't know if I think it's a good or bad idea. I've confused myself! LOL! :eek:
 
TeTe said:
I don't like the idea, because I think it will hurt the non-chain restaurants. Most of the places I go have daily specials, seasonal, and sometimes weekly menu changes; I doubt that they have the time and personnel to take care of something like this.
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From what I understand, it's only restaurant CHAINS that are required to do this, not non-chain restaurants.

I do think the info should be available, but I think most people won't pay much attention to it. Though it might make people more aware of what they are actually eating. I believe in INFORMED decision making.

To show how uninformed many people are--even otherwise intelligent ones: I was recently at a Teaching Professors conference where during one session, we did an activity estimating different things, like speeds, distances, amounts--first separately, then in groups. One of the things we were to estimate was the grams of fat in a McDonald's meal of a Big Mac, Large Fries and shake. I estimated 45-65 grams. One woman thought I was WAY overestimating, and that it was more like 5. Five? Who's the crazy one? Most everyone else agreed with her (though not quite that low, they said more like 15). I just looked it up, and it looks like my estimate was actually a little LOW.
 
I hope they have to post nutrition info becaue some menu items appear deceptively healthful. I have no idea how it will affect the general public, but it will help me with decisions when I have to eat out. Panera lists info on their menus and I consider almost everything on it a calorie splurge.
 
I read an article when they passed a law in NY that restaurants / chains had to post the nutritional information. They interviewed quite a few people and many of them said they'd rather not know. I guess the saying that ignorance is bliss is still valid :eek: I can't find the article right now.

Personally, I was shocked at some of the nutritional "values". I know a little bit about nutrition but I got blindsided by some of the really healthy sounding descriptions and ingredients on the menu. When I found out that the salad that I had at Applebees had 1,500 calories I was totally floored.

1,500 flippin' calories for a salad, almost 3/4 of what I usually eat a day in one meal!!! :eek:

Obviously some of those chains are pretty deceptive and for that I wish there was a requirement for disclosure. If people don't want to read it and they don't have to. But those of us who would like to know what we actually put in our mouth it would be great.

I don't like too much government interference and f those restaurants voluntarily disclosed, we wouldn't need a law. I am just for full disclosure and if they don't do it voluntarily what other options do we have?
 
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hiitdogs said:
I read an article when they passed a law in NY that restaurants / chains had to post the nutritional information. They interviewed quite a few people and many of them said they'd rather not know. I guess the saying that ignorance is bliss is still valid :eek: I can't find the article right now.

Personally, I was shocked at some of the nutritional "values". I know a little bit about nutrition but I got blindsided by some of the really healthy sounding descriptions and ingredients on the menu. When I found out that the salad that I had at Applebees had 1,500 calories I was totally floored.

1,500 flippin' calories for a salad, almost 3/4 of what I usually eat a day in one meal!!! :eek:

Obviously some of those chains are pretty deceptive and for that I wish there was a requirement for disclosure. If people don't want to read it and they don't have to. But those of us who would like to know what we actually put in our mouth it would be great.

I don't like too much government interference and f those restaurants voluntarily disclosed, we wouldn't need a law. I am just for full disclosure and if they don't do it voluntarily what other options do we have?
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yeah, i live in NY and they stats are in every chain. now i think twice about ordering even a munchkin from dunkin donuts! my BF and i have definitely been eating out less often and we just cook at home (which helps our waistlines AND our wallets).

hiitdogs, i was blindsided by some of the nutritional stats, too. some things that sound relatively harmless (for a "fast food" menu item) are actually tipping the scales in terms of calories! i consider myself pretty well-educated on calorie counts and being able to pick a healthier option, and i was just amazed at what some of these items had in terms of fat & calories.

it would actually be interesting to see the mom & pop restaurant sales increase and the chains fall; maybe people dont want nutritional stats staring them in the face, so they would opt for that little place down the street over olive garden.

i am all for knowing whats in my food but at the same time, i dont agree that it should be a required law to post all this info on the menus. i feel like american society has a bad habit of passing the buck, not taking responsibility for themselves, and not educating themselves; we'd rather have someone do it for us (which is probably why we are so overweight as a society in the 1st place!).
 
TeTe said:
I don't like the idea, because I think it will hurt the non-chain restaurants. Most of the places I go have daily specials, seasonal, and sometimes weekly menu changes; I doubt that they have the time and personnel to take care of something like this. I'm with Michelle, when I go out to eat, which is rare, I'm usually splurging, celebrating, and/or just not giving a damn about how many calories or how much fat the dish has. If I cared that much, I'd just stay at home where I have complete control (or as much as DH let's me have, since he's in charge of cooking!).
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I certainly didn't think of this and completely agree. I'm just still po'd about ordering a grilled chicken dinner at Applebees only to find out later that it was one of the worst dishes on their menu. I never would have guessed.

When we travel I stress out about what I am going to eat when we have no choice but to go to a restaraunt. I really hate not truly knowing the nutritional stats of what I am eating. I take as much of my own food with us as possible, but I can't cover every meal. It would be nice to have all of the info, but alas, I must bow to Tete's point.....
 
I think it's a good idea, but I find that the more healthy I eat the less I go out to eat. We also don't go to chain restaurants as much as we go to places that are locally owned. I'm always amazed by how a restaurant can add so many fats and calories to a dish that should be so simple and basic, such as a salad or grilled meat.
 
I really wish all chain restaurants would have their information at least available on the web or accessible if asked at the property if they don't want to publicly post it. In fact, I stopped going to chains that wouldn't post their information...mind you it was a boycott of 2 people (DH and myself) but I kept on telling myself, its not like its a small family business. They can spend the money and give me the information I want/need. In fact, I still eat what is considered to be one of the worst dessert options EVER (baskin robbins heath sundae) but at least I know what I'm getting into (and I never eat the whole thing in one sitting...I have no idea how my DH can even consume that many calories in one sitting). As for the government intrusion -- the chain restaurants knew for years how much pressure there was for them to have their information available. I would have much rathered that companies did it out of responsibility to their customers but they didn't. I'm glad that I'm finally getting the information so I can make that precious (though not always intelligent) informed decision.
 
I'm sorry it's being (or potentially being) compelled. I'd rather see nutrition postings come about because restaurants find it a good way to serve customers, and do it voluntarily.

In airports, I'm often stuck with a chain, and I always choose one that posts nutrition information if I can find it. It's not always possible to carry healthy food with me, unfortunately, so this is the next best thing.

Anyone using the ipod touch apps for looking up restaurant nutrition? Those are such a big help when a person can't get to a better option.
 
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