Posted on 08/03/2008 8:25:52 AM PDT by mngran2
New Yorkers have been in the throes of sticker shock since this spring when the Big Apple became the first city in the country to implement a law forcing chain restaurants to post the calorie count of each food in the same size and font as the price.
Restaurants have not exhausted their legal challenges, but the city will start fining violators up to $2,000 beginning Friday, say officials with the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
While some sit-down chains and fast-food eateries are waiting until the last minute, coffee shops like Starbucks — home of the 470 calorie raspberry scone and 610 calorie cookie — have been replacing their menu boards and adding calorie tags to pastries in recent weeks. The result: Do a little eavesdropping in a New York City restaurant, and you may think you’ve stumbled into an Overeaters Anonymous meeting.
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. Both Stephanie Fowler and Lindsay Green asked about the suddenly popular Classic Sirloin — at 290 calories, it was one of the lowest calorie items on the menu — but learned the restaurant ran out by the time the dinner rush started.
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.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
Just eat half.
We live in an INFORMATION AGE. That said the idiots in charge cannot interpret IMPORTANT and BASIC information. The impotent morons can only pass stupid laws overwhelming a rotten bureaucratic system. I DON’T CARE ABOUT CALORIES, I WANT TO KNOW THE COUNTRY OF ORIGIN OF WHAT I AM EATING.
The average life expectancy at birth for Americans in 1900 was 50 years.
the Eskimos would all be dead and their diet is primarily meat.
The average life expectancy of an Inuit population in the 19th century was 43 years.
I don’t want it mandated, but I sure would appreciate it if every restaurant put the cals and fat next to each item right there on the menu.
It seems that problems with serum cholesterol can be genetic. Your body manufactures cholesterol. Some people (like me) can eat eggs, red meat, butter without concern for cholesterol levels. The more important number is the HDL/LDL cholesterol ratios in your blood chemistry. Mine is excellent, so I don't worry about it.
Of course, not being obese and getting regular exercise don't hurt.
OH NO!!!! My ancestors ate meat and THEY'RE ALL DEAD!!
But so are the ones who ate Shredded Wheat and Tofu, only they died with a permanent scowl on their faces from not being able to enjoy life or a good meal once in a while.
Absolutely! It sounds like you know what you are talking about. I am similar to you. I eat eggs and meat every day. I also eat lots of raw veggies and exercise too. But I think it is a myth that eating lean beef and eggs are dangerous to your cholesterol levels...
Very good... but you are comparing apples to oranges here. Medical care was non-existent... a broken arm was a death sentence... harsh living conditions. Those factors probably had a MUCH greater impact on life expectancy rather than cholesterol...
And alas... you are still alive :)
I am so glad that I don’t have to worry about calories and never will (it’s in the genes) and have to put up with ridiculous laws such as this. I do, however, have to watch cholesterol, as does everyone.
A large part of the life expectancy calculation was death due to childhood infectious diseases. Antibiotics really made a difference in survival rates. Lots of children didn’t make it past the age of 5. That’ll drag down the life expectancy averages.
I’m lovin’ it.
I went to the Chelsea last week to see Dark Knight. So many seemed shocked that a medium popcorn had 1,350 calories. My fave chocolate chip cookie at B&N has 450 calories.
Sure... the poster that quoted stats to me skipped the obvious about Eskimos. Those folks live in the harshest environment you can live it. And if they can live to a ripe old age of 43... well God bless ‘em! But you can no way, shape or form compare them with anyone living elsewhere...
It is hillarious (the reactions, that is), isn’t it? LOL.
Fiber now or colonoscopy later!
And you didn’t already know that?
Can I have your phone number? ;-)
While it’s nice to have calorie information with the meals, it’s not necessary if you have some basic knowledge about food and portion control. I don’t much care for government mandates like this one. I can look at a menu and have a pretty good idea of what not to order. Does it have a lot of cheese and sauces? Lots of refined carbs? Is it a huge slab of meat? I’ll also ask the server how big the meal is if I can’t tell from the menu or what I see other people being served.
Is there a relationship between fiber and colon cancer?
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