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Yes

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Absolutely!

With all the tools available to easily calculate this information (for free), why shouldn't restaurants be required to provide it?

As the consumer, we have no way to determine this information for ourselves (otherwise I would say the onus is on us). Without exact quantities of each ingredient added to a food, we have no way to determine the calories, fat, fiber, or other nutrients we are putting in our bodies.

I have noticed a growing trend for restaurants to add healthier fare to their menus, or revamping their 'look' to make their food look more appealing to those watching their weight. But while all of those changes can be expensive and complicated, adding nutritional information doesn't have to be. There are dozens of free recipe calculators available online that allow anyone to input the ingredients into a piece of software that will then calculate all of the information. So why shouldn't this information be provided to us?

In fact - if the nutritional information were readily available, I would feel far more confident dining out, and be more likely to choose higher priced, fancier items off of the menu instead of sticking with the light section of the menu. I just want to know what I'm putting in my body.

I believe we are heading into a time of high awareness of what we're eating. Restaurants need to get on the bandwagon, or get out of the food industry.

People, today, are growing far less interested in mindlessly putting just anything in their bodies and this healthy evolution will effect the restaurant industry: like it or not.

Learn more about this author, Lisa Papez.
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