by Barbara Stanley

Created on: June 17, 2009   Last Updated: September 11, 2009

Most people may delude themselves about their total intake of calories by day's end, but they have a pretty good idea of the calorie difference between a garden salad and a large slice of pecan pie. Forcing a restaurant chain to print the calorie count for each item they sell is unnecessary and definitely not cost effective.

There are different reasons why people eat at chain restaurants; some are traveling, some are out shopping and running errands when hunger hits, others are celebrating, and some just love the taste of the food they buy there. Arguably, the majority of people do not eat three meals a day, seven days a week at a chain restaurant. Since this argument can be reasonably made, I see no reason for this added burden on restaurant chains. Without doubt, the shock of totalling the calories of the average fast food meal would send the weight conscious running for the exit door. Then again, those who are watching their waistlines are eating healthy already.

Personal responsibility; we do not see those two words together in a sentence very often anymore. We have become a nation of people forever looking to someone else to accept responsibility for the actions we take that harm us in some way. Much information is available in several places for those who desire to know the calorie count of a specified amount of a particular food. Those who are diet conscious usually keep a list of foods they eat regularly and their calorie count. How many people would ever taste a thick, vanilla malt with all those extra goodies that you can have added if the menu all but yelled, "Hey dummy, this malt has 1400 calories. If you eat that burger with fries, you will have consumed three days' worth of calories in one meal"?

The truth is, we have a general idea of the calorie count of our favorite foods. Requiring restaurants to post the calorie counts of all foods served would have a huge negative impact on the financial side. Not many people would like the idea of others knowing how many calories they are having for lunch, dinner, or whatever. There are still some things we would like to keep in the back of our minds and not open for all the public to see. Imagine going to a restaurant on a first date. No matter what you order, your date will know the total calorie count. A better thing for restaurants to do is have a booklet available at every table with a calorie count for every dish they serve and state the exact weight, measurement, etc. of the foods served. Knowing that macaroni and cheese has 210 calories per serving does not help much if you are unaware that the restaurant serves you two and a half servings per order. No one should have to be concerned about calorie count if we returned to eating the proper portions of food instead of super-sizing everything.

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