Tuesday, March 06, 2007

Restaurants and Calorie Listings

So there's been a recent flurry of activity regarding restaurants having to divulge their calorie counts on dishes to customers. The fast food industry has long complied to these regulations, showing that us fat asses who eat fast food will consume 800+ calories on an average burger/fries/drink combination. And to date that information has been available online or on pamphlets for those who actually care enough to look.

Now, the new push is to put the caloric information on the big board...so in essence next to the #1 value meal at burger king you'll get a Whopper, Fries, 16 oz. drink and 1,000 calories (will they charge more for extra saturated fat??? hmm...) Anyway the restaurant industry is fighting these laws (back in december a law was passed to outlaw transfats in food which you probably heard about). But some policy makers want this regulation to not only hit the fast food industry (the Arby's, Roy Rogers, McDonald's, etc of the world) but also the regular restaurant industry as well.
But for now the fight has been with the fast food industry since that is deemed by and large to be "unhealthier" than regular restaurant offerings. If you need to catch up on this story at all here's some worthwhile reading material on the subject:

http://www.latimes.com/features/health/nutrition/la-he-restaurants25dec25,1,55590.story?coll=la-health-nutrition-news

Anyway, my take on this is that when you go out to eat for the most part you're throwing calorie count to the side and enjoying your meal. Whether that pertains to fast food or 5 star restaurants, I don't think i've ever scuttled on menu options based on calorie count. Maybe i've chosen to get a salad rather than a chicken parm or a penne ala vodka but I don't think i've ever made that choice based on calories (of course those on weight watchers will base it on calories but they make judgement calls on that themselves). Anyway, the point is I don't want to see what the calories of a dish are when I order it. I know that my average steak dinner with potato and vegetable will probably net out at least 1,000 calories. Or that my fried calamari appetizer will also hit the 1,000 calories plateau. I know these things. I could see blame ignorance and say "gosh, I didn't know that eating a 20oz steak and double baked potato soaked in butter was 1,500 calories!!". But I don't really care that it's 1,500 calories, as long as its good. And it's not exactly a secret that chefs cook with butter and other natural fats to make food taste better. That's why for the most part chef's are overweight. Most of them don't skimp out on the lite stuff when prepping their meals.

Anyway, I could argue this all day and night, but I figured I'd leave you with a couple of WOW facts you may not have known regarding calories of certain menu items at your favorite restaurant chain. Again, not that this will ever deter me from ordering these items, but I may think twice about it knowing that bikini season is just around the corner! You can read more of the article and view some additional nutritional facts here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17349197/


Pizza Skins: Pizzeria Uno
Calories: 2,050
Saturated fat: 48 grams


Romano's Macaroni Grill: Twice Baked Lasagna with Meatballs
Calories: 1,360
Saturated fat: 38 grams


Stone Cold Creamery: Founders Favorite
Calories: 1,740
Saturated fat: 48 grams


Ruby Tuesday's: Fresh Chicken & Broccoli Pasta
Calories: 2,060
Total fat: 128 grams (the company won't say how much is saturated fat)

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dude...f*cking gross! That's the last time I order that broccoli & chicken dish. Ridiculous.

Anonymous said...

Holy shit!!! Talk about packing on a punch!

Anonymous said...

No wonder why you bloody americans are so fat! haha...j/k.

Anonymous said...

did they just throw a gallon of cheez whiz on top of that chicken and broccoli dish? looks like it came out of someone's ass. hah

Anonymous said...

Guess I know why I dropped 80 pounds once I got out of the country. Right now my mouth is watering! If we could only get quarter portions. Just enough to solve the craving without getting to fat.

Anonymous said...

Fat Americans...haha.