Nutritional Information
Since day one on this diet, one of the major issues I’ve found has been tracking down actual calorie values for many major restaurants in the area. Either the restaurant doesn’t want to divulge this information, are reluctant to divulge this information, or just have never gathered this information before because it wasn’t a requirement. Even if they HAVE this information, nine times out of ten, you have to go to their website or other places to find this information, and it’s rarely available at the restaurant itself. I discovered last night that New York recently passed a law requiring restaurants that have more than 15 locations to have the nutritional information available, posted on the menu itself! Not on a website, not on a sheet of paper, or a seperate health menu, but right there for the world to see! When you walk into a Quiznos, for example, you’ll see the calories listed right along side the rest of the menu items, on the big board that you order from. You can clearly see what you are doing without the need to “look things up”, or do your research before going in to a restaurant. In my opinion, THIS is the way we should be doing things in this country. I believe when consumers are presented with this information readily, they will make much better descisions about what they eat. They’ll see that burger is over 1100 calories, and they’ll consider that before ordering the extra large fries for an addtional 500 calories and large drink for another 300 on top of that!! I strongly believe that America will become a lot more health conscious, and it will also make those of us watching what we eat feel much more comfortable going into a place we’ve never been before… knowing exactly what we’re getting into!
If you want to find out more information about this new law, and what you can do to have it passed in your state, visit the Center For Science in the Public Interest’s website. There you can see additional examples of menus posted in New York. You can also have a pre-written letter sent to the governor of your state, requesting such a law be made in your state as well. Please pass this on to anyone and everyone that may be interested. Hopefully if I can get this grassroots movement started, we can all lead healthier and happier lives!
Image provided by the Center for Science in the Public Interest.