Favorite Restaurant says NO to calories on the menu...

sewedo1

Seems to me the restaurant staff replying to your email was trying to divert attention from any negative concept about their establishment not providing nutrition information by making a blanket statement about other restaruants "gross miscalculation". There are standards for restaurants providing the information and should be taken as a general guideline. The absolute exact calories can rarely be measured with complete precision, but we can make reasonable choices and not go way above or below our calorie guideline when we have the information. If a restaurant does not have calories listed, I try to find listings for foods with similar values or seperate the ingredietns and look them up (i.e. half cup cream sauce, 1/2 cup egg noodles, 1/4 cup broccoli in a pasta dish).

TrainingWithTonya

Actually, it was my understanding that even small chains have to provide nutritional information on request if they put a nutritional claim on their label (like gluten free), so I would look into it further. Copying from: http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=ecfr&sid=5710e16ddccce6e8c0cfefe950452d1f&rgn=div8&view=text&node=21:2.0.1.1.2.1.1.7&idno=21

Title 21: Food and Drugs
PART 101—FOOD LABELING
Subpart A—General Provisions

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§ 101.10 Nutrition labeling of restaurant foods.

Nutrition labeling in accordance with §101.9 shall be provided upon request for any restaurant food or meal for which a nutrient content claim (as defined in §101.13 or in subpart D of this part) or a health claim (as defined in §101.14 and permitted by a regulation in subpart E of this part) is made, except that information on the nutrient amounts that are the basis for the claim (e.g., “low fat, this meal provides less than 10 grams of fat”) may serve as the functional equivalent of complete nutrition information as described in §101.9. Nutrient levels may be determined by nutrient data bases, cookbooks, or analyses or by other reasonable bases that provide assurance that the food or meal meets the nutrient requirements for the claim. Presentation of nutrition labeling may be in various forms, including those provided in §101.45 and other reasonable means.

[61 FR 40332, Aug. 2, 1996]

suzan40

YOUR LUCKY THEY PUT ANY NUTRITIONAL INFO ON THEIR MENU I LIVE IN ENGLAND AND HARDLY EVER SEE ANY INFO OTHER THAN VEGGIE SIGN . YOU JUST HAVE TO WORK IT OUT YOURSELF OR LET YOURSELF OFF FOR THE DAY...I DONT EAT ALL DAY IF GOING OUT LOL:blushing:

KokomoJoe

A restaurant I go to indicates they give you a cup of rice. I measured my last meal and it was just over 2 cups. Most restaurant info is horribly inaccurate but they don't care because they produce it to meet the regulations.

KaySera

YOUR LUCKY THEY PUT ANY NUTRITIONAL INFO ON THEIR MENU I LIVE IN ENGLAND AND HARDLY EVER SEE ANY INFO OTHER THAN VEGGIE SIGN . YOU JUST HAVE TO WORK IT OUT YOURSELF OR LET YOURSELF OFF FOR THE DAY...I DONT EAT ALL DAY IF GOING OUT LOL:blushing:

I have to disagree with you on this one. I need more info as my husband is type1 diabetic and needs to know the CARB intake on everything.

I live in London and so far I've received favourable responses from various restaurants, including PIzza Express (excellent customer services), Greggs the Bakers, Carluccios, Harvesters Pubs. If its not on their menu, all you have to do is contact them and they have all the info at their fingertips and they have all been very happy to provide.

If you don't ask, you don't get........

lmelangley

First, the proprietor saying other restaurant's calorie listings are inaccurate is simply conjecture on his part unless he can point you to study that proves this. I wouldn't put too much energy into worrying about the other restaurants - you'll be nickle and diming everything you eat and none of us has the time for that.

That being said, I always like to look at serving sizes on my plate before counting on calories. As KokomoJoe pointed out, it's too easy to say "1 cup" when you actually get 2. I've heard that at most restaurants, patrons actually get about a double serving. Some folks recommend getting a take out container when you order and putting half of what's on your plate into it when you first get your meal. Restaurants do differ, though.

Iff you like the food at a restaurant that doesn't post calories, try to find similar items from other restaurants or maybe a website like allrecipes.com and just guestimate.

Good luck!

wolfchild59

Actually, it was my understanding that even small chains have to provide nutritional information on request if they put a nutritional claim on their label (like gluten free), so I would look into it further. Copying from: http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=ecfr&sid=5710e16ddccce6e8c0cfefe950452d1f&rgn=div8&view=text&node=21:2.0.1.1.2.1.1.7&idno=21

Title 21: Food and Drugs
PART 101—FOOD LABELING
Subpart A—General Provisions

Browse Previous | Browse Next
§ 101.10 Nutrition labeling of restaurant foods.

Nutrition labeling in accordance with §101.9 shall be provided upon request for any restaurant food or meal for which a nutrient content claim (as defined in §101.13 or in subpart D of this part) or a health claim (as defined in §101.14 and permitted by a regulation in subpart E of this part) is made, except that information on the nutrient amounts that are the basis for the claim (e.g., “low fat, this meal provides less than 10 grams of fat”) may serve as the functional equivalent of complete nutrition information as described in §101.9. Nutrient levels may be determined by nutrient data bases, cookbooks, or analyses or by other reasonable bases that provide assurance that the food or meal meets the nutrient requirements for the claim. Presentation of nutrition labeling may be in various forms, including those provided in §101.45 and other reasonable means.

[61 FR 40332, Aug. 2, 1996]

Gluten isn't a nutrient, it's an ingredient. If they were saying low fat, high protein, or low carbs the. They'd fall under this guideline. But with something like gluten free, vegetarian, or vegan, at most they would have to be able to provide an ingredients list.

Grokette

I agree with this restaurant if their food really focuses on whole foods. When eating a clean and whole foods eating plan as part of your lifestyle there is no need for calorie counting.

Jut got this email back from one of my new favorite spots...

***

McKay,

Congratulations on your weight loss and your goal to be healthy!

I applaud your efforts and your approach with calorie counting. It seems like it's working well for you.

Determining accurate calorie count in dishes is a difficult and expensive endeavor for a small restaurant, and most food establishments that do list them are often horribly inaccurate. Our approach to food does not take calories into consideration as our philosophy supports whole food. We believe if you are eating food which is good for you, the calories essentially don't play as much of a part, and your body will find it's healthy weight on its own. Therefore, even before opening, we decided that calories were not something we were going to add to the menu.

We love taking our dogs out with us, too!

Good luck with your journey to health! See you soon!

***

Well, that stinks. :frown: I wished they would have at least considered it.

Also, this part scares me now, tremendously:

"and most food establishments that do list them are often horribly inaccurate"

:noway:

bcattoes

I can understand your frustration, but they are correct. It is expensive to get all the calorie counts and they will not be accurate, as each dish is a little different each time. This is something everyone should keep in mind when logging foods from chain restaurants. They prepare a meal for inspection and get the calorie count to post on the website/menu. Then you have hundreds of cooks all over the country preparing that dish. It's just not going to be consistently the same.

wolfchild59

Someone asked about the info on nutritional not being accurate. Google will help find a handful of them. But here's one that talks about testing on both restaurant and packaged food items. Also of note (which this article mentions), is that the *official* FDA variance allowed is 20%. Which means that if something says it's 100 calories, it could test at 120 calories and pass. Something to think about as the calorie amounts get higher.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2010737385_foodflaw08.html

I've also seen a few TV reports on it as well, but wasn't able to find any write-ups on those on a quick search.

poisongirl6485

My husband used to work in chain restaurants (Ruby Tuesday, etc), and EVERYTHING is eyeballed when it comes to making the meals. So while the calorie counts are based on a measured amount from a recipe, NOTHING is measured there. I wouldn't put too much stock in what the calorie counts are on those restaurants sites.

michelledruss

But Pita Jungle is so delicious who cares? (I can only say that cuz I only get to eat there when I visit my family in Mesa and vacation days are cheat days for me)

And in regards to the thread topic - 1. yes, only restaurants with 20 or more locations are/will be required to provide nutritional info. 2. The law was originally going to go into effect by Mar 2011 but got pushed back to next year, so no restaurants could be reported at this time. 3. Testing the food and getting official FDA numbers is ridiculously expensive and that's one reason why there was even pushback at the 20 restaurant level, so really small places are highly unlikely to ever do it. 4. I'm not sure what Dr. Oz tested, but most of the studies I've read about testing restaurant dishes vs nutritionals supplied about 30% of the meals were off by hundreds of calories. Some restaurants have been forced to do new FDA testing to get new nutritionals published. Even stuff like ice cream servings from Coldstone and Baskin Robbins were wildly off. One article I read the average serving was 150% of the published serving size. (I.e. if it was a 4oz serving in the data you were getting 6oz). Great for value, horrid for calorie counting.

And through all of this typing, all I've been able to think about is Chompie's from my last AZ trip. lol

I love Pita Jungle too! But I thought I was doing good and low carbing it there with my mahi mahi and realized I was eating almost 1000 calories for a 4oz fillet and some hummus. So depressing cuz I love it there and it just goes to show that I need to be eating at home more unless its a day of indulgence.