Ontario Adds Calories to Restaurant Menus

flaminica

"As of Jan. 1, all restaurants with 20 or more locations in Ontario will have to display how many calories each of their food and drink items have on the menu."

Good idea? Drop in the bucket?

cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/ontario-restaurant-calorie-menu-2017-1.3919308

leanjogreen18

I'm not in Canada but I think its a good idea.

20 or more restaurants, indicating they have pretty good traffic.

Pam_Shebamm

They already to this in NY.

A lot of people don't like it, because "If I'm going to go out to eat I want to have a good time, not be reminded of how bad what I'm eating is for me."

As someone who counts calories, it's easier to go out to eat and quickly calculate what fits my goals, vs. logging after and ending up over vs. trying to look everything up on MFP and see what works.

nvmomketo

Nice. I hope that policy comes out west too.

Nevada

Saw that at an Arby's in California. Reading the menu board left to right, the sandwich prices and calories rise together.

goldthistime

Less estimating for the calorie counters among us. At the very least it will bring a little awareness to everyone else.

lemurcat12

They have that in a lot of chain places here (Chicago), so much that I just expect it, there might as well be a law. (And isn't the US one in effect or soon to be?)

I like it, but I don't think it makes a difference except for those of us who pay attention anyway.

ninerbuff

Almost ALL restaurants in CA have calorie values for their food. This has been going on for several years here now. Yeah, I know us "liberals" here actually have good ideas that spread pretty fast throughout America.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

sardelsa

I actually just noticed this on the menu of some of the restaurants and bars I went to recently. Even McDonald's has it right next to the food item when you are ordering. I like it because I am bulking so it pushes me to pick a higher calorie item (which I probably wouldn't have chosen before).

crzycatlady1

This is happening more and more where I live (Michigan) and I love it!

MsAmandaNJ

I noticed yesterday that Mac's has calories posted right on the fountain soda dispenser. Now all they have to do is offer a diet caffeine free option ;-)

rks581

I think the first time I noticed calories on a menu (besides fast food places) was at a hotel bar back in October. The room service menu had calories as well. I think it's a positive step as certain dishes can have many more (or less) calories than you might expect. For McDonald's it really will go to show how many calories are in those drinks. I'm one of those people who orders a double Big Mac, large fries, maybe an extra cheeseburger and a Diet Coke. Sounds funny but the truth is I save almost a large fry's worth of calories by getting the diet drink.

synchkat

I noticed this at the movies yesterday. I was deciding on a burger, said to my son do I want pulled pork or a bacon cheeseburger and he replied well mommy the pulled pork is the least at 700 calories so get that. So clearly people are noticing and paying attention. Haha

sunnycamper

I've seen it in NYC and I love it. When I'm trying to choose between 2-3 options, it makes it simple!

ILiftHeavyAcrylics

lemurcat12 wrote: »

They have that in a lot of chain places here (Chicago), so much that I just expect it, there might as well be a law. (And isn't the US one in effect or soon to be?)

I like it, but I don't think it makes a difference except for those of us who pay attention anyway.

I agree. I would like it if they implemented something similar here, but I doubt it would make a significant impact on the eating habits of non-calorie-counters.

NorthCascades

I asked the waiter at an Indian restaurant (here in Seattle) how many calories my meal was. He said he had to go to the kitchen for a moment, then came back and told me my meal (with an appetizer, a main course, and a chai tea) was 500 kCal. It was at least three times that. I really don't know for sure but would have appreciated a ballpark figure.

Pam_Shebamm wrote: »

A lot of people don't like it, because "If I'm going to go out to eat I want to have a good time, not be reminded of how bad what I'm eating is for me."

It sounds like people are saying "having this information would change my behavior."

lemurcat12

He probably had no idea, and should have told you that. I don't think there's any chance we are going to start demanding that local places (vs. chains) give that information.

Anyway, I don't think "I don't want it" necessarily means "it will change my behavior." As I said above, it's been quite common to chains (local and otherwise) in Chicago for some time, and when I was ignoring calories I'd simply avoid looking at it or thinking about it. Might be different in a sit-down place with a menu than a quick serve place with just a board on the wall), but again most such places wouldn't have it -- I almost never go to a chain for dinner, personally.

Where I think it is useful -- in addition to for calorie counters -- is that I think it does shame restaurants into having some lower cal choices, usually. (Or encourage them to have them as they will be popular with some, to put it more positively.)

Weirdly, I was talking to a friend of mine who has just started watching (not counting) calories and he mentioned going to Pret and getting a sandwich which I knew (since I go to Pret often) was one of the higher cal options. He then said "I checked later and it was a bad choice, should have checked before." I was dumbfounded and said "but it's next to the sandwich where you grab it -- Pret has all the calorie information right there!" He said he just didn't notice, it was crowded and he wasn't paying attention.

You really can't get easier to see than in Pret and he was in theory trying to see it, and yet still managed not to. People are kind of amazing that way.

Again, I'm still very much in favor of it -- it's great for those interested and I think leads to more lower cal options.

Gisel2015

ninerbuff wrote: »

Almost ALL restaurants in CA have calorie values for their food. This has been going on for several years here now. Yeah, I know us "liberals" here actually have good ideas that spread pretty fast throughout America.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

I am in California too and not all the restaurants have the nutritional information listed in their menus, so I agree with "almost" all of them. Mimi's Cafe used to but now you have to go to their website to find it. Also small and/or local restaurants may be exempt too. I think that the law also applies to restaurants with more than 20 locations.
I agree that it would not make any difference to people that are not interested in counting calories (my husband raises his hand...), but it does to me.

NorthCascades

lemurcat12 wrote: »

He probably had no idea, and should have told you that.

Instead, he lied, probably under direction from his manager since he went back into the kitchen for a moment before coming back out with a wildly implausible number that a dieter would want to hear.

The point isn't the size of the restaurant, because sometimes people go into chains and still want to make informed decisions. The point is that in the absence of providing accurate facts, people are left to guess or make them up. More information is better than less information.

Buying stuff tends to fall into two categories: when my doctor prescribes a medicine for me and I buy it from a pharmacy, the responsibility for everything to be correct lies entirely with the people I've done business with. On the other hand if I buy a house the responsibility is explicitly mine, that's why I need to hire my own inspector. Most things are a bit more of a gray zone, which is why there are starting to be laws clarifying this, that it's a restaurant's responsibility to make this information available in some cases. I shouldn't be expected to "just know" how many calories are in a dish if I can't know the recipe or even the list of ingredients.

Timshel_

ninerbuff wrote: »

Almost ALL restaurants in CA have calorie values for their food. This has been going on for several years here now.

AZ and many states.

lemurcat12

NorthCascades wrote: »

lemurcat12 wrote: »

He probably had no idea, and should have told you that.

Instead, he lied, probably under direction from his manager since he went back into the kitchen for a moment before coming back out with a wildly implausible number that a dieter would want to hear.

Yeah, agree, that might have happened. Not cool. Or he had no clue, asked, the chef said some random number that sounded good to him and the server repeated it not knowing it was wrong. Then the fault isn't the server's, but not cool of the chef, he should have said "don't know" or "none of your business" or whatever, not made up a number.

My point about the size of the restaurant is that they aren't currently and are not (IMO) going to require local non chain restaurants to give calorie information. Ontario's law doesn't do that.

JohnnyPenso

That explains why those littler calorie cards showed up in the display windows at the local Timmy's recently I think it's a good idea all around to give people as much easily accessible information as possible when it comes to health and fitness. Easy to make smarter decisions as you wait in line to choose your item too. I didn't realize the big difference in the common donuts until I saw the calorie cards in the display case. I haven't had one in ages but when I do I'll make a different choice than I normally would have and save myself about 120 calories.

mactammonty

I used the calorie list at Coffee Culture last night to stop myself from eating a muffin. 600 calories was just too high. I like it.

estherdragonbat

Went out with friends to Timothy's last week and loved seeing the calories up there! No more guessing about the hot apple cider!

GeorgiePie88

I grew up in Ontario and love this idea. If only they can start doing this in New Zealand as well (which is where I currently live).

I imagine for single pre-served or pre-made items (like donuts) would be trustworthy, but I would be skeptical for anything else. Even things like french fries or coffee, where there is room for the measurements to vary. How do I know that the server didn't put more fries into the container or milk to my coffee than intended?

I guess this is where it's a good idea to continue to be mindful of food in restaurants. Even if the restaurant tells you that the plate of pasta is X number of calories, it's wise to continue to be aware of how calorie-laden restaurant food can be and to try not to dine out too much.

amarneu

I love that this is happening, it has encouraged more of the local mom and pop type restaurants to get on board as well

xmarye

I wasn't aware of this... YAY ME! At least one good thing about living in Ontario lol.

estherdragonbat

I just wish my local kosher sushi counter would follow suit. They make a lot of unconventional/non-traditional rolls, many of which contain tempura bits, spicy mayo, and other items that can run up the calories. (I wouldn't be nervous if they just, say, had a cucumber, red pepper, and mango maki roll, since my guesstimate would probably be close. But I can't really eyeball a 'line' of tempura spread out along 8-10 slices.)

CooCooPuff

I got a menu at Cheesecake Factory with the calorie values yesterday and loved it. I actually explored the menu more than I normally would have.
I go out to eat enough times where it would be a detriment to just say screw it. Even if it can be higher, a ballpark is very nice.

Gallowmere1984

mactammonty wrote: »

I used the calorie list at Coffee Culture last night to stop myself from eating a muffin. 600 calories was just too high. I like it.

I am almost convinced that commercial muffins are actually made in reverse centrifuge compressors. There is no reason that something so small should contain so many calories.

Packerjohn

crazyravr wrote: »

Human error will play a huge roll here.
Subway sub, lets say 400cal with a table spoon of mayo. Now, ever see a subway employee measure anything with a spoon or a scale? This sub can quickly become a 600cal sub with a simple 3 second squeez of that mayo bottle etc.

True. However it will still provide a relative ranking of the available choices