My sister was in NYC recently and sent me a picture of a donut covered in nuts with the caption “Sonal’s biggest nightmare.” Funny joke – I have an irrational fear of donuts and I have recently developed a severe allergy to most nuts (more on that later). Anyway what struck me about the picture was that the calories for the donut were included on the sign… pretty cool.
Then just today, I saw an article on msnbc.com – Menu calorie counts can alter food choices. NYC law requires all chain restaurants to include a calorie count for all menu items and apparently this has been an eye-opener for many previously unaware Americans. The article says many consumers are unhappy because now they can’t enjoy their favorites … that’s kind of funny. I watch my calories. Generally speaking, I know what I eat, I know what I burn. I know that the muffin pictured below would provide me with enough calories to run about 7 miles… yeah, that makes you think, 7 miles for one muffin 
I think we should be aware of what we’re eating. Most food has nutritional labeling… it makes sense that food offered by restaurants would have the same info. I think a carb/fat count next to that calorie number would be helpful as well. The article says that menu labeling laws are growing across the country and if the health care reform bill passes, restaurants with at least 20 locations throughout the country will have to post calories on menus; and provide other nutritional information as well. This information would be helpful to those who want to use it – like me. When I get a snack from a restaurant, I make an educated guess as to the fat/calories that I am eating. For those consumers who aren’t aware or interested in the info, they can ignore it – they probably don’t pay much attention to nutritional labels either. For those who are irritated because now they gotta know – well…
