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Is requiring posting calories of menu items going to help reduce obesity?
Replies
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deannalfisher wrote: »it could also potentially open the door for lawsuits - someone misreads the posted calorie count and gains weight...and therefore its the restaurants fault (oh wait - didn't that happen with Chipotle)
Couldn't that work the other way as well? "I assumed that the chicken burger was low in calories and you didn't tell me otherwise and I ended up fat.. wahhhh... you now owe me $1 million for pain and suffering"2 -
deannalfisher wrote: »it could also potentially open the door for lawsuits - someone misreads the posted calorie count and gains weight...and therefore its the restaurants fault (oh wait - didn't that happen with Chipotle)
Couldn't that work the other way as well? "I assumed that the chicken burger was low in calories and you didn't tell me otherwise and I ended up fat.. wahhhh... you now owe me $1 million for pain and suffering"
that is what i meant....
https://arstechnica.com/science/2016/11/the-case-of-the-diet-burrito-customers-sue-over-misleading-nutrition-info/2 -
I see one potential positive coming out of this: some restaurants (not necessarily ones with an already established and standardized menu) may start making some of their dishes lighter.8
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amusedmonkey wrote: »I see one potential positive coming out of this: some restaurants (not necessarily ones with an already established and standardized menu) may start making some of their dishes lighter.
this.
Otherwise, probably not. Most of the people who care about their weight have most likely already cut way down on eating out.2 -
amusedmonkey wrote: »I see one potential positive coming out of this: some restaurants (not necessarily ones with an already established and standardized menu) may start making some of their dishes lighter.
this.
Otherwise, probably not. Most of the people who care about their weight have most likely already cut way down on eating out.
Honestly, it's one of the reasons I'm more likely to do McDonald's or another Fast food restaurant than a sit down place. I can find reasonably accurate/consistent calorie/menu/nutritional info.
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It will probably help a small section of the population, but in general I doubt it.
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neugebauer52 wrote: »As a hotel manager I can easily see the daily / weekly / monthly food sales analysis. And no, since the introduction of calories per portion on the a la carte menus we can see no changes. People go out for their meals to enjoy themselves and not to follow some sort of "diet". About 38 % of our food revenue is generated through various help yourself buffets: for breakfast, lunch, high tea, dinner and so far we have not noticed an increase of consumption in "healthier" options such as low carb salads, green vegetables etc. The general public still sees those items as garnish on their plates and generally also leaves that garnish uneaten on their plates. As an option we have introduced the choice of smaller plates - they are only used if the larger plate's pyramid food mountain is trying to collapse. We offer low sugar / added sugar free fruit jams and marmalade at our breakfast buffet and they are generally ignored. We offer low fat / fat free cold sauces, marinades and dressings on our salad buffet and they are also ignored: there is always a huge demand for mayonnaise and other high - fat salad dressings. We have noticed a small change of high sugar soft drinks: more people are now ordering low calorie / calorie free drinks. Humans eat with their eyes first and couldn't give a pea pod when "confronted" with a 25 meter long buffet....
@neugebauer thanks for that eye witness account of the Ways Of Eating you see.
Locally McDonald's is introducing the touch screen self ordering computers with nice photo shots of the food items with associated calorie count. One reason for doing this it was reported on average a sale will increase by like $1.80 so it is like they are at a buffet except they are seeing marketing photos. I guess we eat with our emotional right brains and just ignore the left brain math part.
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People need the education about what calories are, how many you need and how they affect the body first. It's amazing how many people still don't have that basic information. Combine that with the people that spread misinformation about how calories don't matter and things only get further complicated.
They need to know what they're looking at and why it matters in order for what they're looking at to even have a chance of affecting their choices.4 -
deannalfisher wrote: »deannalfisher wrote: »it could also potentially open the door for lawsuits - someone misreads the posted calorie count and gains weight...and therefore its the restaurants fault (oh wait - didn't that happen with Chipotle)
Couldn't that work the other way as well? "I assumed that the chicken burger was low in calories and you didn't tell me otherwise and I ended up fat.. wahhhh... you now owe me $1 million for pain and suffering"
that is what i meant....
https://arstechnica.com/science/2016/11/the-case-of-the-diet-burrito-customers-sue-over-misleading-nutrition-info/
See, reading the article, I don't see this as a frivolous suit. The signage was clearly confusing and counter productive. If it was clearer, it would be more helpful.
I like the idea of (accurate) calorie counts on menu boards, but don't think it will do much.12 -
Tacklewasher wrote: »deannalfisher wrote: »deannalfisher wrote: »it could also potentially open the door for lawsuits - someone misreads the posted calorie count and gains weight...and therefore its the restaurants fault (oh wait - didn't that happen with Chipotle)
Couldn't that work the other way as well? "I assumed that the chicken burger was low in calories and you didn't tell me otherwise and I ended up fat.. wahhhh... you now owe me $1 million for pain and suffering"
that is what i meant....
https://arstechnica.com/science/2016/11/the-case-of-the-diet-burrito-customers-sue-over-misleading-nutrition-info/
See, reading the article, I don't see this as a frivolous suit. The signage was clearly confusing and counter productive. If it was clearer, it would be more helpful.
I like the idea of (accurate) calorie counts on menu boards, but don't think it will do much.
yes- they were definitely attempting to mislead people on purpose in this case.3 -
For people who care, it will help. I consider myself to be knowledgeable about nutritional values, caloric intake, etc. and have still been surprised when I see some of the posted information.
For people who are obese/unhealthy but don't care/don't know/don't pay attention: at best, it can encourage them educate themselves. At worst, it does not and they continue living their life the way they have been.
For children: I think its important for them to understand the implications of what this all means. It's easy for us to say that in OUR youth, we wouldn't have cared but I think today's youth is more susceptible to educating themselves — and can care.
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People brought up some arguments against it (lawsuits, fat-shaming, onus on restaurants) but in general, I think this is a great way to help people make informed decisions.
At the end of the day, you can still eat whatever you want. Just know before you chow!
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Fast food here has had calorie counts for ages, and so have many quick serve restaurants. I don't think it's helped reduce the obesity rate, but having it at some of the quick serve places I go to has made it easier for me (although back in the day I just didn't pay attention to it), and I think does put some pressure on the places to have more reasonable calories or options with more reasonable calories. So I think it's good.5
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anecdotally, i use the calorie count. my family and friends do too.
we often choose the lighter fare. I am happy that i can back an informed decision.
or we ask ourselves how badly do we want it. sometimes, an indulgence isn't bad. eat the cake5 -
It might help people who are "trying to eat healthy" realize that getting a salad is sometimes no better than getting a burger.15
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deannalfisher wrote: »deannalfisher wrote: »it could also potentially open the door for lawsuits - someone misreads the posted calorie count and gains weight...and therefore its the restaurants fault (oh wait - didn't that happen with Chipotle)
Couldn't that work the other way as well? "I assumed that the chicken burger was low in calories and you didn't tell me otherwise and I ended up fat.. wahhhh... you now owe me $1 million for pain and suffering"
that is what i meant....
https://arstechnica.com/science/2016/11/the-case-of-the-diet-burrito-customers-sue-over-misleading-nutrition-info/
Frankly, they deserve to be sued for what appears to be an intentionally misleading sign advertising their food as much lower in calories than it actually is. Fraud is fraud. It's not reasonable to post a sign showing a burrito, describe the burrito and everything in it, say "300 calories" and then expect people to somehow guess that refers to only a single ingredient in the burrito. If there are laws requiring restaurants to list calorie content, the laws also assume they are listing them truthfully, to the best of their ability.
The proof that this is an intentional attempt to mislead and not just a poorly designed sign is the number right next to the calorie count - it doesn't cost 7.73 just to add chorizo. The calories are clearly given for whatever it is that costs $7.73 - the whole burrito.9 -
That article is... interesting.Moreover, the researchers found, people usually put back on more weight than they'd lost. This cruel twist is due to the fact that a person's metabolic rate slows down to accommodate semi-starvation, but it doesn't bounce back, resulting in a stubbornly depressed metabolism. To maintain that weight loss, it appears a person must restrict calories for life — a state of deprivation that, as it turns out, few humans can sustain.
They're acting like cutting your calories to a reasonable level is some terrible burden, only achievable by herculean strength and monk-like levels of asceticism.
Because we all know that, actually....https://www.theonion.com/new-study-finds-it-is-impossible-to-lose-weight-no-one-1819575105
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Hungry_Shopgirl wrote: »That article is... interesting.Moreover, the researchers found, people usually put back on more weight than they'd lost. This cruel twist is due to the fact that a person's metabolic rate slows down to accommodate semi-starvation, but it doesn't bounce back, resulting in a stubbornly depressed metabolism. To maintain that weight loss, it appears a person must restrict calories for life — a state of deprivation that, as it turns out, few humans can sustain.
They're acting like cutting your calories to a reasonable level is some terrible burden, only achievable by herculean strength and monk-like levels of asceticism.
Because we all know that, actually....https://www.theonion.com/new-study-finds-it-is-impossible-to-lose-weight-no-one-1819575105
I think that one was authored by Shouty Guy.
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Hungry_Shopgirl wrote: »That article is... interesting.Moreover, the researchers found, people usually put back on more weight than they'd lost. This cruel twist is due to the fact that a person's metabolic rate slows down to accommodate semi-starvation, but it doesn't bounce back, resulting in a stubbornly depressed metabolism. To maintain that weight loss, it appears a person must restrict calories for life — a state of deprivation that, as it turns out, few humans can sustain.
They're acting like cutting your calories to a reasonable level is some terrible burden, only achievable by herculean strength and monk-like levels of asceticism.
Because we all know that, actually....https://www.theonion.com/new-study-finds-it-is-impossible-to-lose-weight-no-one-1819575105
I think that one was authored by Shouty Guy.
CALORIES!!1 -
I think it’s help would be limited. It’s one extra and useful tool for people already doing cico. For all the other, it’s almost just a random number.0
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