Derek Hernandez, ACF: Certified Culinarian, Dietetics & Nutrition Major, Florida International University '12
To answer that question, a “Venti” size at your campus coffee shop is 300 calories, which is 15% of your recommended daily calorie intake. I don’t know about you but it seems like a lot for just a breakfast drink alone, and I’m not even talking about the prices. Soon, restaurant chains nationwide with more than 20 locations will be required to list the calorie content on food boards and on menus. Shouldn’t restaurants be doing this anyways? Granted, many Americans clearly don’t care about calorie consumption, but we have all been there. How can we resist the giant burritos being produced at Chipotle, and for only five bucks for all that food? This broke, starving college student is there! Besides the cost of feeling as if you were on the next episode of “I didn’t Know I was Pregnant” when sitting on the toilet 30 minutes later after scarfing that whole burrito down, it also comes with the hefty count of at least 1,000 calories, half of your recommended daily intake. Don’t be too hard on yourself though: we all make mistakes.
Shouldn’t we know though before we place the order that this massive Mexican fiesta comes with a hefty 1,000+ calories? Why are companies hiding this information from us to begin with? If they didn’t want criticism on the contents of their food, maybe they should seek out alternative ingredients or cooking methods and not just those that are cheap and inexpensive so they can make a profit. Companies find it ok to do this? I don’t know how or why but they care more about the well being of their pockets as opposed to the population, hooray for capitalism! Before they know it though, these companies start to plunder when the average citizen gets fed up and starts recording documentaries of how much crap is actually in their food. Remember the movie “Supersize Me”? What did McDonalds happen to do as soon as the movie was released? Oh that’s right, the Super Size option ceased to exist from the entire restaurant chain…shocker. And for your knowledge, just the super sized French Fries alone added up to 610 calories and the soda was a hefty 410 calorie drink! Why wasn’t that information there right on the menu?
While most people in this country may not care about what they eat, I on the other hand do care about nutrition. However, trust me when I say I didn’t use to before. And I’m not some health nut either, crazy about being organic and eating tofu and forcing my beliefs of what you should be eating, none of that. I graduated from a Culinary Arts school. Believe me when I say I cannot resist a good cheese burger when I smell one. It’s all about making choices though and that what I find important about this issue. Will putting the calorie content on menus stop you from ordering it? Hard to say, and it’s not a definite yes, but it does make you think about what exactly your getting into when waiting in line to place your order. It may also help Americans become nutritionally aware of themselves which is what should really be coming from this. As opposed to Americans complaining and pondering about why they’re fat, showing just how many calories people consume on a daily basis may be the thing to help them consider and realize that they may be overeating , which has shown to be effective in leading people to make wiser decisions about their eating habits. And if you don’t care about your nutritional well being, that’s fine and dandy, I’ll see you in 20 years battling obesity (if you’re not already doing so like the 35% of people in this country according to the Center for Disease Control). No one can force you to eat better: it’s a decision you have to come to terms with on your own.
The bill is also supposed to only apply to establishments whose main purpose is to sell food. So what about the other places I may get my food from even though they have the most absurd prices already? What about the vending machines, the movie theatre, the bowling alley, airplanes (barely), and sporting stadiums, just to name a few? I mean just because you’re not sure of how many calories the jumbo popcorn has doesn’t mean they don’t count. With all those cornels, salt, butter, more butter, it’s going to cost you, especially if you’re not the sharing type. (Even though I don’t understand why you wouldn’t, remember that sharing is caring! Especially with you munching away right next to me with that warm buttery smelling deliciousness, yeah I want some! Hand it over.) And it may be wise for you to share too for your own health: some groups have researched that the jumbo popcorn at some theatres may be as much as 1,500 calories. (On second thought let me just enjoy a handful, thanks.) But it doesn’t stop there, what about the nachos, the giant soft drinks, the giant soft pretzels, the hot dogs? There’s no such thing as an invisible calorie. (Although it would be amazing if there was, that chili cheese hot dog being consumed while watching the world champions known as the Dolphins-hah!-does count to your caloric consumption and I should have the right to know just how many there are without having to go home and look it up online. Even then it might not be entirely accurate.)
But should it stop at just restaurants with more than 20 locations? Personally, I don’t think so, why can’t every food establishment provide me with the nutritional content of my meal? And even then, the bill doesn’t even require “limited time” or “daily special” items to display their caloric information, and why not? Most people may think that it’s some hard complicated process that involves rocket science and statistics and various test subjects. It’s quite the contrary: you literally plug in all of the ingredients of the dish into a software system, the amounts, and the portion sizes and click process. That’s it. There’s nothing more, and nothing less: all of the information on the dish is there, even down to the vitamin percentages and mineral content. So it kind of irks me when I find out that some multimillion dollar fast food chains–who do put this nutritional information on their packaging–cannot even correctly displaying the nutritional information on the boxes. There are most likely unwritten nutritional information in that already 500 calorie Big Mac you’re currently munching on! And what’s the government going to do when a corporation incorrectly displays the wrong caloric information? Are these companies going to have to pay a fine or are we just going to let it slide like we do for so many other multimillion dollar companies in this country? Feast on that, bon appétit!
Do you agree with Derek?
Should all restaurants and food establishments be required to list calories? Should the government play a role in promoting nutrition? Do you have your own fast food horror story? What can our generation do to guarantee healthier Americans?
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While I agree that there are a lot of Americans who could benefit from having the caloric content of their food in their faces, I worry about people with disordered eating. Having the number of calories to read can lead to a vicious cycle of counting and food-related guilt. I think what’s actually more important is the nutritional information–because 300 calories is great for breakfast when you’re also getting lots of protein and/or fiber. The emphasis on calories is pretty detrimental, in my opinion, when what really matters is what you’re getting out of your food; because after all, food=fuel. What a great topic to bring up on WTB, though! Kudos!