Reader Poll :: Should Restaurants Post Calories?
Another (Quick!!) NTS Update
If you’ve tried to check out the page tabs above in the past and gotten the lovely ”Coming Soon!” message, you’re in luck! I’ve been working on filling in the content on these pages and encourage you to check them out again. I’ve updated:
Take a peek and be sure to send me suggestions for other things you want to see added at nourishingthesoulblog@gmail.com or on twitter.
___________________________________________________________________________________________
With an interview last spring in Boston, I found myself in Philadelphia’s 30th Station waiting for the train and starving (read dramatically and with emphasis, please). It was early in the morning and all that had opened among the various food options was McDonald’s and Dunkin’ Donuts. Hmmmm…. Never one to turn to down DD’s coffee, I headed over to take a peek at the menu and… I. was. shocked.
There on the giant menu board, which spanned at least 20 feet across, were listed all of the available items for sale, along with… get this… the calories content of each item! Now, this might not have induced a seizure had we been at another establishment, but at Dunkin’ Donuts on this particular Tuesday morning, I was in a state of dismay. My delicious Sausage, Egg, and Cheese Croissant was over 600 calories! I learned I would be better off to have two jelly donuts – though only slightly. I tried to look for healthier options and eventually decided on the Egg White Veggie Flatbread, significantly fewer calories and much more nutritional value. It wasn’t bad.
So my change in behavior (ordering the healthier option) was precisely the goal that the creators of Philadelphia’s menu labeling law had in mind when it was put into effect in early February of this year. I looked at the facts and made a more informed decision on what I put into my body. I made a deliberate step in keeping myself healthy by being a more educated consumer.
But here’s the other side… I, like many others, have been trying for years to break out of the calorie trap – the trap where we become so focused on a number that we fail to consider other factors, like taste, overall wholesomeness, and my body’s signals to me regarding what it wants and needs. The calories (and other information provided, such as fat grams and sodium content) only tell one part of the story. What about the ingredients? Or where the products are grown (or processed)? And what about those struggling with eating disorders who don’t yet have the skills to ignore calorie content in favor of their overall health.
There are many sides to this issue. Some suggest that this practice represents too much involvement by the government and too many regulations for restaurants. Some suggest we have the right to be ignorant if we choose to be. Some suggest that those who want to remain ignorant can learn to ignore. Some suggest that we have the right to information to make good health choices. Some say, “I just want to order my Big Mac in peace!”
So, what do you say?
Weigh in on this issue in the poll below. And, of course, please leave a comment so we can all learn from each other!
Tina
629 days ago
I think it’s important for people to have information to make better choices but don’t know about just focusing on calories. Like you mentioned, then someone might opt for a lower calorie version of something that doesn’t have much nutritional value over a healthier option slightly higher in cals. I think if they had some sort of measure on things being an overall good choice (at least alongside cals) would be best.
Courtney
629 days ago
Generally I have strong opinions about everything, but on this one I am torn. As someone who has dealt with disordered eating (and still does) for years, one day I might tell you that, for me, it’s a great thing but another day I might tell you that it’s probably more harmful than helpful. I guess ultimately this is an example of not being able to please everyone, so maybe do what’s best for the masses? What is it, 2/3 of Americans that are obese? There is probably a smaller percentage of us dealing with ED issues (unless you consider eating yourself obese to be an ED, which is another topic for another day!) so if overweight people struggling to lose weight might benefit, I could learn to look away if I felt I needed to.
I also agree that if they are going to bother including the calorie count, why not go the extra step and give us a little more info to be able to more accurately determine the nutritional quality of the food?
On that note, I don’t think I would ever allow myself to eat anything from a Dunkin Donuts, or any other place that serves that kind of food, unless I were drunk or literally about to pass out from low blood sugar. Sigh.
Courtney
629 days ago
Oh, and PS, I love your blog! Grew up in MD, went to college at UMBC and lived in Baltimore while my hubby was working at Hopkins. We’ve moved to Virginia since but my parents still own a house in Butcher’s Hill. Baltimore is a great little city, isn’t it?
Ashley @ Nourishing the Soul
629 days ago
Thanks for your comments, Courtney! Interesting bringing up “eating yourself obese” as an ED… food for thought, if you will.
I actually haven’t yet moved to Baltimore (a couple more weeks), but am glad to hear that you liked it! We’re excited =)
Jayna @ Healthy Living Bites
629 days ago
This is kind of a soap box of mine after this past year. I appreciate though the remarks on intuitive eating and looking beyond just the calorie content, but I must say I fully support basic nutritional information being put right on the menu. Part of this is because I count calories, I do it because I am actively trying to create the calorie deficit it takes to lose weight. I do not have a healthy relationship with food, and thus am not in a place to eat intuitively. I hope to start that six months into maintenance of my weight. Maybe my thoughts will change then. However, as it is eating out requires more planning and work then cooking does! This is kind of a big thing as we ALWAYS go out to dinner with my in laws on friday night (and yes I did ask them about allowing me to cook, and the answer is no). It takes so much planning and coordination for those dinners. I need to find out where we are eating 24 hours in advance so I can look up the menu, see if they have nutritional information available. If not look to see if it’s been calculated by someone else. If not then I have to go look up the menu and try to find comparable things from other restaurants and give the calorie content my best guess. I then have to make sure I adjust my eating for the day to accommodate the dinner out. Now this has gotten better and easier over this year but at first, it was rough.
Many times I have thought how much easier it would be if restaurants were REQUIRED to maintain nutritional information on their food. It would be even easier if the information was printed right there on the menu! I also do think that people would avoid things like Burger King’s quadruple cheeseburger, that has over 1000 calories just by itself. Is it a perfect solution? No, because as you said it doesn’t take ingredients or the source of the ingredients into account. Is it better then what we have now- ABSOLUTELY! It will start an awareness of what is being put in our bodies that will hopefully expand to awareness of true nutritional value and ingredient sources.
Christie {Honoring Health}
629 days ago
When I started my journey to eating intuitively, I didn’t have a healthy relationship with food either. It was through that process that I developed a healthy relationship with food; that is the goal of the intuitive eating concept. To help us understand our relationship with food, and our bodies and make the necessary changes in order to both health the relationship with food AND get to our bodies natural weight.
Sarah
629 days ago
I’m not so sure about this one either. For people that don’t suffer from ED, it should be no problem, but while you’re suffering from an ED or recovering, well, it can be a trigger. But it’s also a question of common sense: of course a burger/big mac/5 donuts are gonna have a lot of calories, so if it really comes to a surprise to people, maybe they should just be better educated nutritionwise? Easier said than done, though..
Julie
629 days ago
I definitely think the calories should be on the menu. Even eating intuitively, knowledge is good. I want to have a choice to not only pick what I “want” to eat, but to be able to do it wisely, like you did. I’ve been very surprised to find out how many calories were in a favorite meal at a certain restaurant before and with that knowledge I was able to find something I enjoyed JUST AS MUCH that was much healthier for me.
Hannah @ Eat.Walk.Live.
629 days ago
I remember some years ago walking into a McDonalds that had a framed chart of each menu item with full nutritional information on the wall, near the cash registers.
I think this might be a possible compromise, where people who want this info can easily seek it out (you have to get fairly close to read the print, there are a lot of items listed) and if you feel that it would cause anxiety to know the calories, you don’t put in the effort to find out.
As Jayna mentioned, it can be a real pain to figure out prepared food info so at the very least I hope that all food providers will be required to make this information public, whether or not it is visibly available in-store.
Best,
Hannah
Margarita Tartakovsky
629 days ago
Wow, I’m torn on this one, too! On the one hand, we deserve to know what we’re eating. I’m shocked to find out the number of calories in some meals. But, on the other hand, calories aren’t the most important thing. I’m happy (and feel free actually) that I don’t fixate on calories anymore. More importantly, I think, is how the food is made and what ingredients they’re using. To me, the bigger implication is that we’re promoting a focus on calorie counting, and I’m not sure that I agree with that.
It’s really a difficult issue. Lots of food for thought here. :) Sorry, I couldn’t help it..hehe.
As always, a great thought-provoking post!
Christie {Honoring Health}
629 days ago
I say no way.
I don’t think that calories equal healthy at all. Calories tell you nothing about a food nutritional value and what it will do for your overall health. I also think that for many, it can be very triggering, especially in those very beginning stages of recovery. I am at a point now where it would not bother me. I read labels all the time but I had to go many years without looking at anything on the label before I could get to this point.
Dorry
629 days ago
This brings up so many good points! As someone who used to restrict and obsess over food choice, cals and fat content, I agree that this might serve as a trigger but then you take into account the obesity rate in the U.S. and suddenly it seems like a brilliant idea to inform people of fat/cal. Then there are people who do Weight Watchers and those numbers are crucial for them. But I 100% agree that those numbers just show one small aspect of the food’s value – these days, knowing the ingredients is one of my main focuses. I could talk about this with you for hours! :)
Justin
629 days ago
I have a lot to say on this issue, but I’ll try to keep it short. I have been lucky enough to not have to worry about calories or weight in my life, in large part due to my marathon training and physical activity, but I have to say that I HATE when calories are posted.
While I understand the value of information, I also (to some extent) value ignorance. If I go to Burger King and want to get that quadruple cheeseburger (which I wouldn’t do), I know that it is bad for me, the calorie information just lets me know how bad it is. However, when the calories are posted I feel like I have to get one of the items with the fewest calories no matter how many calories I should be eating for my marathon training, which can be a serious problem.
While I do understand the value of this information I feel like the information is available at every chain restaurant across the country, you just have to ask for it. I don’t see why it needs to be put in 7,000 point type next to each item on the menu.
Finally, it also only applies to chain restaurants, thus if I go to my local Chinese buffet I can load up on calories and ignorance without a second thought, but if I walk into Saladworks I will be told exactly how many calories is in every item in my salad. I feel like many people have guilt associated with calories, no matter how few are in their food, and seeing that number can be very hard for them to take. Thus, I think they should just keep it printed on a paper in the back, if you really care enough about your calories you will ask, and if you don’t you can make an educated guess as to what will be the best choice – it might not be the lowest calories – but that’s not always a bad thing.
Kristan
629 days ago
Hmm, good points. Maybe this is a stupid idea, but what about something like a new Health Ranking value, on a scale of 1 to 10, that combines all those factors (calories, ingredients, etc.) and tells you where on the scale it rates?
Mama Pea
629 days ago
I feel like consumers should have all the information they need to make an educated decision about what to put in their bodies. Calorie content is a good start. While I agree that the information may be too much for those in recovery, we have even more people in this country suffering from obesity.
Great and thoughtful post! And thank you for your kind comment on my blog.
NewMe
629 days ago
Interesting post. I admit to being somewhat torn myself. Calories are only one part of the puzzle and obsessively counting them while forgetting nutritional values, sodium, etc. is ultimately not very healthy. I suppose my final answer would be yes, post the calories, but just FYI.
I’d like to respond to the person who said that it might be a good idea to post calories given the number of obese people in the States. Hello! There are lots of countries with much lower obesity rates (France, for example) that don’t do this. They also don’t have such a myriad of “diet” foods as you do in the States (I’m in Canada, which is pretty bad too when it comes to the number of dietetic products). If calories posted and the availability of so-called diet foods actually made a positive difference, the US would be the thinnest country in the world. As it is, the US has the largest percentage of obese individuals out of 28 countries surveyed (http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/hea_obe-health-obesity).
Another thing that bothers me about restaurants posting calories is what it implies about the food they prepare and serve. Only large, chain restaurants can post fairly accurate counts. They buy their foodstuffs in ultra-bulk quantities and I suspect do not always (or even often) buy the highest quality. I can be pretty sure that the meat I eat in a chain restaurant in the States is full of hormones and antibiotics, for instance. Personally, I prefer to eat reasonable portions of food in small, owner-run restaurants than eat food that is full of preservatives and who knows what, but for which I can have that precious calorie count.
Jill Will Run
629 days ago
I’m in the “Not sure” camp… Reason being, a big part of my ED was restrictive calorie counting. It is still virtually impossible for me to go to a restaurant without trying to look up nutrition data online. As I try to work on my intuitive eating, having calorie information posted makes it hard because I’m immediately drawn to the “diet” or “weight watching” section of menus. With calories displayed so prominently I automatically seek the lowest calorie item I can.
On the flip side, many restaurant items are so bloated with excess calories (far more than you would get if you even recreated the dish at home) due to the science behind the prep, that perhaps if consumers don’t purchase things because they are swayed by the calories posted, then restaurants will become more responsible in how they prepare dishes and the American public won’t have to be so concerned.
Ashley @ Nourishing the Soul
629 days ago
Wow, you guys didn’t help me come to a firm conclusion at all. Everyone has a great points. I am quite certain now, however, that the readers of NTS are a thoughtful and intelligent bunch ;-)
SheFit
628 days ago
I think posting calories on menus will be a good eye opener to those who think they are eating healthy but in reality they are eating 900 calories and 45g of fat.
Fatty Cake Heather
623 days ago
I know that not everyone struggles with their weight, but for the majority of people who do, I think that knowledge is power!! Obviously the better choice was still the sandwich over the donuts (which most people know would keep you satisfied for much longer), but had I known my sandwich was loaded with 600 calories when I could have gotten a sandwich with much few calories and more bang for my buck…I’d choose better. I eat out more often than not, and knowing EXACTLY what I am eating often times changes what I decide to buy. Panera Bread is another such place (Michigan doesn’t have this awesome law yet) and I can say with confidence that I order very differently now than I did before the counts went on the board, and I enjoy it all the same. People who want a Big Mac know its not a good choice…but what about those of use who want to know if eating two hamburgers and a garden salad would be less calories than said Big Mac…and would enjoy it all the same!? Maybe I’m not stuck on having one thing when I go to McD’s. Some are, and regardless if the numbers are posted or not, won’t care…but most of us do.
Fatty Cake Heather recently posted..Im burnin Im burnin Im burnin foryou