Calories on Menus. Will it go into effect? If so, when?

This is The End

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This is The End
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Calories on menus next to the price?

Here is a NY Times article from around when the health care bill passed:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/24/business/24menu.html

It comes close to answering the questions in the thread title, but I'm wondering what everyone's opinions are. (I know that's asking for trouble!)

Here's a more recent Chicago Tribune article about an interesting vending machine angle.

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2010-11-09/business...

(I'll go ahead and start off the opinion and say that I think vending machines are more like grocery stores, and should be exempt on pre-packaged items. A candy bar already has calorie information on the package by law, and if it doesn't have to be next to the price in a grocery store or a gas station, why would it in a vending machine....)

Here is a summery from the first link for those too busy to click :)

Buried deep in the health care legislation
<snip>
Every big restaurant chain in the nation will now be required to put calorie information on their menus and drive-through signs.
<snip>
In other words, as soon as 2011 it will be impossible to chomp down on a Big Mac without knowing that it contains over 500 calories, more than a quarter of the Agriculture Department’s 2,000-calorie daily guideline.
<snip>
The new federal law requires restaurant chains with 20 or more outlets to disclose calorie counts on their food items and supply information on how many calories a healthy person should eat in a day.
<snip>
Exactly when consumers will see that information is unclear, however. The legislation requires the Food and Drug Administration to propose specific regulations no later than a year from now, but completing the rules could take longer. If a legal battle ensues, as often happens with new federal regulations, the effective date could conceivably be years away.
<snip>
Under the new legislation, restaurants will be required to display calorie information for standard menu items as well as calories for each serving of food at a salad bar or a buffet line. The chains will not have to post calorie information for daily specials and limited-time items.
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I hope it does go into effect. Sometimes people think they are making the healthier choice on a menu. There is nothing wrong with being informed.
 
rjh01 said:
Great idea. Informing people is the first step in changing people.
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What studies there are show the contradictory results that people "take into consideration the calories" yet eat 50 calories more on average.

Laws need testing, alteration, and repeal. This rarely happens.


More idiocy: Banning bake sales in schools, when fat people are fat because they eat too much greasy stuff, not too much sweets, the "common sense" idea of obesity.
 
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If a company is fighting to avoid disclosing the caloric qualities of their food, you have to wonder why they are hiding it. People may or may not change their eating habits if they knew how many calories their choice foods contain, but I see nothing wrong with letting them know.
 
I don't think it will make a lot of difference except on the most ridiculous foods like one of those fast food breakfast sandwiches with over 1000 calories and triple/quadruple patty burgers. Actually it might in one area. I think it will be most effective to combat all the liquid calories many people are ingesting without understanding.
 
sgtbaker said:
If a company is fighting to avoid disclosing the caloric qualities of their food, you have to wonder why they are hiding it.
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Determining calories is not expensive, but neither is it free. I haven't seen the regulations in question, but if they will be required to do a NLEA nutrition label, it can get to be quite an expense.
 
I wouldn't mind seeing the information, but I doubt it will actually change people's habits. It'll just make it easier for the people who are already trying to change their habits.

After all, those cigarette warning labels didn't stop people from smoking.
 
sgtbaker said:
If a company is fighting to avoid disclosing the caloric qualities of their food, you have to wonder why they are hiding it. People may or may not change their eating habits if they knew how many calories their choice foods contain, but I see nothing wrong with letting them know.
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Actually, just to point out something, all these restaurants are already required by law to disclose not only the caloric content, but other health information (such as sugar, fat, carbohydrate, protein, etc) in their food. For quite some time, this was on the back of McDonald's tray liners, for example. And at every fast food place I've been, the nutritional ifnromation guide is usually right there stacked on the serving counter, generally with a sign pointing it out.

They aren't fighting to avoid disclosing the information; they're fighting to avoid the expense of changing all their menus and signs to provide information that is already available, to anyone who care to spend 30 seconds to look for it.
 
sgtbaker said:
If a company is fighting to avoid disclosing the caloric qualities of their food, you have to wonder why they are hiding it.
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Personally I'm just unhappy about the local restaurant exemption. My regional chain of restaurants has to post this info but my competition, individual restaurants in each city, doesn't have to do anything.
 
Rika said:
Probably because they can't be regulated at via the Commerce Clause.
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They almost certainly can. See Katzenbach v. McClung and associated jurisprudence. See also Wickard v. Filburn. With these sorts of decisions, it's hard to see how any restaurant, no matter how truly local it may be, can manage to escape the Commerce Clause.
 
AvalonXQ said:
Personally I'm just unhappy about the local restaurant exemption. My regional chain of restaurants has to post this info but my competition, individual restaurants in each city, doesn't have to do anything.
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Keep in mind, if you have the values available, people who are counting calories would probably choose your place over that of a place that doesn't have it on the menu. It might be a good thing.
 
sgtbaker said:
Keep in mind, if you have the values available, people who are counting calories would probably choose your place over that of a place that doesn't have it on the menu. It might be a good thing.
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And you can raise the prices on the healthy stuff!

Cheese Burger: $4.75
Cheese Burger with Bacon: $5.00
Cheese Burger with Bacon Deluxe Triple with BBQ Sauce: $6.00
Fresh Garden Salad: $19.99
Fountain soda: $1.99
Bottled water: $4.99
 
TragicMonkey said:
And you can raise the prices on the healthy stuff!
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Not if the restaurant down the street sells the healthy stuff cheaper.
As we've seen with Wendy's new value menu salads, fast food prices are always a race to the bottom. Fresh/healthy foods are more expensive to supply (especially when you're trying to make them taste good), which explains why they're more expensive to serve.
 
TragicMonkey said:
And you can raise the prices on the healthy stuff!

Cheese Burger: $4.75
Cheese Burger with Bacon: $5.00
Cheese Burger with Bacon Deluxe Triple with BBQ Sauce: $6.00
Fresh Garden Salad: $19.99
Fountain soda: $1.99
Bottled water: $4.99
Click to expand...

Ha! no kidding. I spent $8 on a bag of grapes, yesterday, which is pretty much the only fruit my son will eat :mad:
 
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