Home of the 470-calorie scone

By Dan Estabrook - July 30, 2008 (TNN) I was recently chatting with Pankaj, our well-traveled founder, who spends a bunch of time in New York.  In sharing details of a recent trip, he mentioned he was quite surprised to see calories listed on the fast food menu from which he was ordering. After scolding him for eating fast food (don't you read our blog I asked?), I was fascinated to learn what was going on. Apparently, New York is the first city to impose a law forcing chain restaurants to post the calorie count of each food in the same size and font as the price.  The city is fining violators up to $2,000 for not posting caloric information and are now fining restaurants who do not comply. Pankaj admitted that knowing the piece of pizza he was about to order contained almost 1,000 calories made him change his mind about ordering my fave food.  Others have changed their orders as a result of the new law as well. According to MSNBC, Pankaj was not alone in his shock:

At T.G.I. Friday’s, one of the few sit-down chain restaurants to have already added calorie counts to menus, a group of young women gasped as they studied the menu, barely able to find a meal under 1,000 calories, never mind an appetizer or dessert.

Nora Cara was flabbergasted...She was about to order her usual morning coffee and muffin at Dunkin’ Donuts when she saw the new calorie labels. The chocolate chip muffin she had her eye on was 630 calories.

Outside the Forest Hills’ Dunkin’ Donuts, Juan Restrepo, the 45-year-old owner of a construction company, said he was quitting corn muffins — 510 calories! — this time for good.

Given that it is recommended that we do not exceed 2,000 calories per day, all we need to do is simple math to figure out that we are eating too much.  Doh.  The U.S. is the fattest nation on earth! I have to admit that I enjoy a Starbuck's latte and pastry on some mornings.  If the calorie content was listed next to the price, I would have to think twice about adding to my already expanding forty-something girth. I do wonder if the expansion of this law to other cities will change the menus of these chains due to economic necessity.  Similar laws are scheduled to hit Seattle and my town, San Francisco, later this year. I'm especially interested to see what the foods that some of these chains are marketing as "healthy" actually add up to in calories.  One salad at TGIF totals 1,360 calories, exceeding even the cheeseburger with fries at 1,290 calories. I also will settle my long-term fascination with how Jason actually lost weight eating nothing but Subway sandwiches. At any rate, if such a law changes our eating habits for the better, let's do it.  It's good for the environment, and it's good for us. Do any readers from New York have stories to share about the impact of this new law on their eating habits?  Please post a comment! Source: MSNBC, New York Times.