by J G Williams

Created on: November 24, 2009   Last Updated: December 06, 2009

The practice of good nutrition in America is failing. One reason is that Americans eat out, more than any other culture. And as long as they aren't getting food poisoning from restaurants, most people consider this food healthy to eat. There are various things regarding nutrition and restaurant food, that we don't know. One good example is nutritional content. When eating our meal, we might ask ourselves some of these questions...What is the amount of fat grams in that country fried steak? Or how much saturated fat does that frozen caramel mountain have in it? Can I be sure the world's famous juicy burger is made with 98% lean beef? Is the grease that those batter fried fish fillets cook in, use lard, or vegetable oil? And, how much sodium does that serving of lasagna really have? If we knew the answers to these questions, then we might be able to start tackling the reason why so many Americans are out of shape. So what would be the benefit to having calories, and fat grams, listed on the menus?

One benefit would be better eating choices. If a person has decided to go out and eat, they are still going to spend money at a restaurant, so there is no issue concerning lost revenue. If people had nutrition information on the menu, they would just simply pick the better meal. And if possible, the better dessert. When restaurants know what people will eat, they usually make the adjustments necessary to their menu. Why? Because we know that profits, are determined by demand. So if everyone decided they were going to eat lean beef, instead of fatty beef, it's likely you would be seeing that menu choice in the near future.

The second greatest benefit to having calorie and fat grams on the menu, would be decreased medical costs. Okay we all would benefit from decreased medical costs, wouldn't we? Not only would insurance premiums go down for companies, but out of pocket medical costs would go down for consumers as well. In the news, we hear non-stop info about the uninsured in America ,as well as the increase in poor health. But what we don't know is how much of these costs would be deferred, if people were given better nutritional information. I think this is worth a government study to see how many people would make the healthier choice, if given this information on their menus.

And the third benefit would be, the demand and supply for healthy quality food would go up. If you did have nutritional information on your menu, would you likely eat there again with the current choices? Maybe not, but you would go to Healthyburger, instead of Fat burger, because you know that they served 98% lean, yummy burgers. And then a few other people would notice that Healthyburger has a great 98% lean burger, and they would start going there as well. Pretty soon, Fatburger notices they're losing customers, and realized it's because they don't sell lean burgers. So next thing you know Fatburger, is no longer "fat", they start selling good lean burgers, and now you have another choice of someplace tasty, and healthy to eat.

Nutritional information in restaurants, is worth the money and time needed, to empower consumers to make healthy choices. If consumers are given the opportunity to make healthy choices, not only will they be a loyal customer, but hopefully a healthier one as a result.

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