Calorie Count Rule : What is It?
I read an interesting headline the other day, so had to read on of course, to see if there were new restrictions that I didn’t know about, imposed on restaurants and chains due to the obesity and heart disease epidemic. The headline read something like “NY Eateries Ignore Calorie Rule” . What would you think that means? I thought maybe it meant there was some sort of fairly bizarre new calorie count rule on meals or on ingredients used in fast food or restaurant meals. Here’s what it actually is.
The new rule isn’t apparently as bizarre as I was thinking - and duh, I’d heard this before, just not in those words, which tend to be confusing. It’s about a new rule that’s been trying to be enforced for a while about fast food eateries and restaurants putting the calorie count for different menu items in a readable format or right on the menu along with the prices on food items.
Pretty good idea, I think, but should it actually be enforced? I think it should be a rule that restaurants have this information available to a customer if the customer needs it, but do I really want to sit down to a nice sandwich and see the calorie content even if I don’t want to, and want to enjoy a nice, fattening, heart destroying burger if I want without knowing the consequences of my splurge?
July 1st was the beginning date of the new rule that has been imposed on NY eateries dictating that they must print the calorie count for menu items on the menu. But not all eateries are complying, whether they just aren’t ready to or are flipping the finger to the new requirement. Two biggies, McDonalds and Burger King are the most notorious disobeyers of the new requirement, and I think I know why. Since the print size of the calorie count on the menus has to be as big as or bigger than the size of the price, this may be a tad disenchanting to execs there since this could possibly be a deterrent to one who wants to purchase a whopper with cheese, or a Big Mac, since the calorie counts are pretty high on those sandwiches.
They are probably trying to figure out a way to do this without hurting their business, which I can’t say I blame them for. I’m not sure if this is government putting their hands where they shouldn’t be or not. I do know that I wouldn’t mind seeing the calorie counts right on the menus, and people still have free will to buy that burger and fries even if the calorie count is more than half a day’s calorie allowance for their height and weight. What about it? Do you think they are overstepping their bounds, or that this is a logical next step in the government’s stepping in to “protect us from ourselves”. Yikes, I don’t even like the sound of that!
