New York can fine restaurant chains that don't post calories

by amyjudd | June 19, 2008 at 10:42 am | 348 views | 4 comments

New York City is going to start fining chain restaurants that will not post calorie counts on their menus by July.
I like this idea, however I think it will make people eat out less as to know some of the calories that are in restaurant food will scare me away I think!

The state Restaurant Association is fighting the law in court. The industry group says the law meant to combat obesity violates restaurants' First Amendment rights.

An appeals court Wednesday refused to postpone enforcement of the rule until after its case is decided in court.

That means the city can begin issuing fines on July 19, unless the appeals court makes a ruling in the case as a whole before then.

The city is already issuing citations to restaurants breaking the law. It applies to chains with at least 15 outlets across the country.

Flag this story

Upload

Make your good story a great story. Click here to add your photos & video to this story.

Crowd Power

Scan the web to add photos and videos to this story or add them from the NowPublic Archive.

Heiky

at 12:54 on June 19th, 2008

good stuff:

I don't think people will eat out after this. You'd be scared to find out how many calories are in Boston Pizza's chicken wings.

kthspian

at 16:13 on June 19th, 2008

I think this is a little silly. Chain restaurants have always had nutritional information available if you ask for it.

Does anyone actually know what the calorie count of the food they make at home is? I think if someone would make a calorie count for your average casserole, people would be appalled.

This just throws those numbers out there with no corresponding education to put them into perspective. If the public can't be educated to make an intelligent choice, if they're just being told "fast food is bad, look at this high number!" and "Salads are good, look at this low number on lettuce!" there's no helpful information being passed along, it's just fear mongering. If you're afraid to eat a food just because of a high number posted next to it, you should probably learn a little more about what those numbers mean, and how they may or may not effect you. Most people are unaware that they could easily lose ten pounds if they just cut soft drinks, diet or regular, from their diets.

It isn't a question of eating healthier. It might help, but if you look back on the recipies of the past, you see a lot of things we don't eat today- lard, cooking in fats, whole milk, heavy cream, butter- these things were in everything. These are foods we eschew now, but they're what our "healthier" generations ate.

So what's the difference between then and now that makes me say this "epidemic" isn't about eating healthier? A more active lifestyle; neighborhoods layed out with schools, libraries, community services and grocery stores every eight or ten blocks. You could walk everyplace, or you took your car downtown, parked it, and walked from store to store. Many people just don't do that as often- though maybe New Yorkers still do (making this an even sillier campaign).

Divine in the Daily

at 16:20 on June 19th, 2008

This is a beautiful Broccoli Beef Dish that I was priveleged to shoot.

Divine in the Daily has contributed a photo to this story.

rpshen

at 16:24 on June 19th, 2008

good stuff:

amyjudd, I like this story. It's good stuff. I agree, eating out is definitely not healthy. Hopefully, after seeing the amount of calories, ppl will be somewhat discouraged from eating out.