If you knew how many calories were in these French fries, would you still order them? Californians will now know a lot about calories in fries and plenty of other restaurant foods. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a new law Tuesday that requires restaurants with 20 or more locations in the state to post the calorie count of each menu item.
New York and Seattle have similar laws, but California is the first state in the country to do this. California was also the first state to ban restaurants from making food with trans fats.
The new California bill goes into full effect in 2011 – between now and then restaurant chains have to make brochures with nutrition information available in their restaurants.
This summer, we told you about a study that shows if calorie counts were posted on menus, it helps people make healthier choices… or order smaller portions. Would it help you? Or do you think this will make us overly obsessed with counting calories?
GOOD! Now the rest of the country should follow!
It’s about time that California caught up with NYC. I love being able to go to McD’s and being able to make smart choices (I was able to do this before they listed the calories, but I digress).
Besides calories, they should post what ingredients are in the food they’re serving; that would completely deter business, I am sure! Instead of focusing solely on the calorie content, people need to be informed what is actually in their food. Just because something is lower calorie doesn’t mean it’s nutritious (and vice versa).
Everything here is so calorie-focused (due to weight issues). But that makes people forget about the actual contents of their food.
For example, when you eat out, do you realize that it is common practice for restaurants to apply butter to steak during the cooking process and to slather mayonnaise on bread and buns before they’re grilled? All these unhealthful ingredients have negative consequencs that go beyond weight gain.
So, yes, I think labeling caloric content is a very important step! Go, California, go!
Yes, I think they should do this! I think a lot of people underestimate the number of calories in certain items and if they really knew the truth (like how many calories are in their frappucino-ugh!) they probably would make healthier choices.