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| No | 50% | 1156 votes | Total: 2295 votes | |
| Yes | 50% | 1139 votes |
No
by Henri Zimand
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Add to FavoritesRestaurants are there for you to be able to relax and enjoy a fantastic meal, maybe even a romantic meal.
Unless you are a specialized restaurant for calorie oriented clients there is no need to have calories written on your menu. A restaurant is a place where you want to relax, have fun with a romantic date, family or friends.
The last thing you really want is to look at your menu and see there calories and gram fats. You are not interested to be under pressure and not eating something because it has too many calories.
Most people that are calorie conscious know what they ought to eat and what mixtures in order not to overdo the amount of calories and fat. In any case most people will allow themselves to have a good meal without worries and the following day or days will get rid of the excess calories they ate.
Most restaurants in fact would not know the amount of calories and fat that their food contains. Can you imagine that every sauce you make you will have to start counting the calories and fat and write down on the menu? Where will be the fun of eating in a restaurant?
Most people when they go out, they want to be free to choose whatever they really want to eat on that occasion. The fact that New York decided to pass a law on restaurants that have over fifteen outlets is more to avoid obesity and is more inclined to fast food chains.
Fast food chains, that give out junk food, are in fact one of the reasons for obesity in the USA, more than other countries. Still I believe that the people eating junk food in fast food chains will continue eating there especially that these places sell food at the cheapest possible rate.
The calories of some of the salads including Caesar salad can go from anywhere as low as nine hundred calories to one thousand nine hundred calories for one portion.
Yes people think sometimes that eating salads has no calories but when you add the sauces, cheeses and bred crumbs it adds itself quickly much higher. There are many mixtures in these fast food chains that have foods with very high calories unlike most restaurants.
Some restaurants do have stars next to low calories dishes to advise people what they could choose if they do care about low fat food. It should remain the choices of people and restaurants whether to add calories and fat in their menus and not to government forcing themselves on restaurants otherwise where will be the limit very soon.
Learn more about this author, Henri Zimand.
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Yes
The nutritional value of almost all of the foods we eat is available on a variety of different websites. But how many people do you know that actually go online to check out what they should or shouldn't eat, at a specific restaurant, before they leave the house. Probably not many.
People don't want to think about eating healthy when they are paying someone else to prepare their food for them. When eating out, ignorance really is bliss. If the calories and fat grams of their favorite foods were listed on the menus of their favorite restaurants these people could not claim ignorance and would then have to take responsibility for their poor food choices.
The obesity epidemic is taking over the entire world yet the very people who suffer from obesity are the first that try to stick their head in the sand and hide away from the big bad nutritional data monster.
This is why it should be mandatory that restaurants list the nutritional data for the foods they serve. Incorporating this practice would make the patron responsible for their diet. This practice would eliminate the arguments of all those people who want to blame everyone but themselves for the size of their waist.
Some restaurants, like Red Lobster, have already listed the calories for their foods on their menus. Other restaurants, like Apple-Bees, have a dedicated section of their menu for the people who want healthy eating options. Even Denny's gives a healthy alternative portion in their menus. So why shouldn't every other restaurant follow suit?
I will tell you why I think this practice will meet stiff opposition. I think the industry, as a whole, is against this idea because it could lead to potential bankruptcy for some places.
If you knew that the double portion of chicken fried steak, loaded mashed potatoes with country gravy, cole slaw, and slice of New York style cheese cake, had more calories in it then you are supposed to eat ALL DAY, would you order it?
Some people would. But some people wouldn't, or they would order something less expensive, and forget about dessert all together. Every item that doesn't get ordered or is replaced with a side salad or bowl of soup, is in effect costing the restaurant money.
I am an advocate for the practice of adding the fat and calorie list to restaurant menus, but I also see why the restaurant industry will fight to keep it from being mandatory.
Learn more about this author, Cynserity Stevens.
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