What's really on the menu?

It was bound to happen...Those unwanted pounds and the risk of diabetes have made EVEN ME eat smarter and care about nutritional facts so...This probably would deter me from ordering whatever I want on the menu when I'm standing in line looking up at the board...

from www.injuryboard.com

New York City's Fast Food Menu Mandate by Jane Akre

In an effort to get New Yorkers to eat healthier, city officials have decided that fast-food chains must display the number of calories each fare offers. The calorie count would be right on the menu, the theory being that consumers would then make healthier choices.

A federal judge has argued that a previously issued rule by the Board of Health should apply to all establishments, not just those that had previously volunteered to post nutritional information on their menus. Fast food establishments make up about ten percent of 23,000 eateries in the city.

As for fast food giants like McDonalds and Burger King, that information is already available if customers search for it, albeit with a bit of difficulty (ala the film, Supersize Me).

Now restaurants will have to add the calorie counts to menus for all to see. Other establishments such as I-HOP would offer information to the public for the first time scaring customers by making them aware of exactly how many calories they are consuming.

Expect to see the new regulations in place by March 31^st if approved by the board which is expected. The mandate applies to chains with 15 or more restaurants in the country and is part of an initiative by Mayor Michael Bloomberg to fight obesity and diabetes

New York is leading the nation in trying to impose healthier eating awareness and fight the obesity epidemic. Last year the city banned trans-fats in cooking oil.

The city’s Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Frieden tells the New York Daily News, “Some people may choose to ignore (the calorie information) and that’s totally fine. But other people will sue it to choose healthier food.”

Estimates are that regulations could prevent some 150,000 New Yorkers from becoming obese and reduce 30,000 cases of diabetes from developing over the next five years.

No word on whether the New York Restaurant Association will sue again as it did when the first round of regulations were proposed. Justin Wilson of the Center for Consumer Freedom calls the city’s “Nanny-state public health policies.”

>>Here's a page on Healthy Fast Food eating too...