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| No | 51% | 1139 votes | Total: 2244 votes | |
| Yes | 49% | 1105 votes |
No
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Add to FavoritesIf every restaurant was required to list calories and fat grams on their menu, I believe that it would cause chaos. A simple guideline to calories and fat content is another thing entirely.
It's all very well to say that restaurants should have a list of calories and fat grams on each item of their menu. For fast food chains, it's not a problem. Restaurants like McDonalds, Burger King and KFC have the same foods day in, day out. It is regulated and these companies can easily put the calorific content on their web sites, or even on their menus without having to think much about it. Personally I feel that it should be entirely at the restaurant's discretion and not a legal requirement.
Saying that, out of interest, I took the time to look at a couple of websites regarding the calories in a cheeseburger from Burger King:
www.burgerking.co.uk states that in a cheeseburger there are 253 calories and 11g of fat per 100g. www.weightlossresour ces.co.uk states that the same burger has 269 calories and 13.4g of fat per 100g. (Bear in mind that the burger itself is approx 150g) This may only seem to be a few calories difference, but when one is counting, every calorie should count, so then why are they different? (24 calories and 3.6g of fat per burger to be precise)
If I go into a restaurant and I am watching my weight, then I am sensible about what I choose. If I am worried about the extra calories that may be added to something I am eating, and it does not state on the menu that a certain item may be cooked in butter instead of extra virgin olive oil,it is also quite easy to ask how the item is cooked and use my common sense as to whether I still want to order that particular item or not. There are many kinds of people that have special dietary requirements which are not listed on an average menu, but if they ask, they will be told whether it is suitable for them or not.
Many restaurants have not only their own seasonal menu, which changes every couple of months, but also a chef that cooks the food to the customer's taste. Sometimes a dash extra of mayonnaise or oil, maybe even an extra pinch of salt or spoonful of cream is required to get the exact taste. Of course you could get the typical amount of calories that should be in your meal, but when you are actually being served the food, will it really be the exact number of calories stated? Quite unlikely.
If it became a legal requirement for chefs to put the amount of calories and the grams of fat on each item of their menu, then there would be no room for change, the chefs would probably not be as adventurous for fear of facing a lawsuit if the fat content was 5g more than they stated.
On the other hand, it could be possible that a 'calorie and grams of fat' guideline could be placed either on the menu, or available for the customer to view should they so desire.
If you are lucky enough to be going to a decent restaurant, then you are going for the experience of the meal, not to be calorie counting.
To me, going to a restaurant is a treat, and not a daily habit. I feel pampered and spoilt for choice by the luxuries on offer. I am there to enjoy the food and I can always run that extra mile tomorrow!
It is a well known fact that chefs use butter, cream, sugar etc to make things taste that bit better. If you are watching your weight, then you will probably know this and already follow these guidelines anyway:
1 Choose steamed vegetables where possible or a salad
2 Sauces contain a lot of calories, stay away from them if possible
3 Fish and Chicken are the leaner option
4 Eat less!
My conclusion is that if you want to count your calories, then go to a restaurant that advertises the fact that they are health conscious, or better still, if you don't want to cook it yourself; buy a lean choice microwaveable ready meal made by robots which states 'exactly' how many calories are in your meal.
Learn more about this author, Eleanor C..
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Yes
Yes definitely. I've thought about this for years, if McDonald's can do it, why can't everyone else?
As a person who reads every ingredient of every label of every product I pick up from the shelf, I would love to be able to read a menu in a restaurant, and see, straight away, the ingredients of every dish, and the nutritional information.
I don't understand why its demanded of any brand that sells any food product that goes into a supermarket to have detailed nutritional information on the packaging, but not of restaurants. They are still serving food aren't they? We are going to consume that food, and that food may have a damaging effect on our health, so shouldn't we have that information printed in black and white for us?
McDonald's has a reputation of selling us "bad food", but they show us nutritional information. They know that most of their food is high in calories, fat and salt, but they still show us. Why? So that they can say that each customers decision to eat in their establishment was their own informed choice.
If we get this from a food chain, where most of us eat the food on the go, why can't we get it from a restaurant, where we will sit with our friends and families, spend a good amount of time there, gorging ourselves, usually on far more food than we ever would in McDonald's.
For a lot of people going out for dinner to a restaurant is a treat, something that isn't done a lot, for some others, eating out is a regular occurance in their lives. No matter which bracket you fall into, I think everyone has a right to fully know what they are eating.
If you went into your favourite restaurant tomorrow, sat down, made yourself comfortable, looked at the menu, and noticed that the meal that you usually have contains over half the calories, fat, salt etc intended for the day, would you still order it? Perhaps, you would. But most likely, you would take a good long look at that menu and look for something that is the healthier option!
Having nutritional information on all food that we eat, no matter where we eat it, is no bad thing. It might lead to people asking for smaller size portions, salad without the dressing, sharing desserts, or going without, and would that really be so horrible? People being informed of what they are putting into their bodies? Helping themselves have a healthier diet?
No nutrional information on food equals kidding yourself into what it really contains. A slice of cheese cake delivered to your table, a small slice, will only contain ,at the most, two hundred calories. That's in your head of course! that little slice of cheese cake probably contains nearer to the five hundred calorie mark! If you had seen that on the menu, might you have gone for the fruit salad or the sorbet? I know I certainly would.
Learn more about this author, Anna Maria Ryan.
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