Calorie Shock at the Counter

[bp22]

I dont buy anything in the supermarket (fruits and veg excluded) without nutritional information clearly displayed. Keeping a track of cals is really the way to go.

You're 100% right, I check most products I buy but not everything.

Nothing truer than "You are what you eat"

 

[anchored]

that's awesome.

and it's not saying "you CAN'T eat this" it's just making people aware and giving them the option of an informed decision.

 

[thebeautybrains]

I'm happy with this decision, yet sad at the same time... While I don't eat fast food, I do enjoy Starbucks, and now I'm afraid that once I see the calories right there in front of me, I'm not going to want anything from there anymore. Maybe that's not such a bad thing though... hehe.

Why the guilt? People are living longer than they ever have. And we have been doing it by eating more fast food, more calories and doing less exercise. The average life expectancy right now is 80.4 years for women! How much older do you people want to get?

So feel free to eat your McDonalds. Drink your calorie-laden Starbucks. If you don't you'll get to live maybe a year longer (probably confined to a wheelchair). Is that really worth a lifetime of denial?

 

[SiennaInLondon]

Yes, I totally agree. Calories are not the enemy! It's what KIND of food it is that has those calories.

It's a combination of the two.

 

[smartarse]

It's the portion. America is the only country that have at most 5 portions plopped on their plate whether it be at home or at a restaurant. If you ever traveled outside the U.S. other nations have portion control which cuts down considerable amount of added calories/fat/trans fat/bad cholesterol etc.

Also, America consumes the most processed food. Totally bad for you.

It's America's obsession with food and counting calories that leads to so many unhealthy people in my opinion.

.

 

[astatine]

It's the portion. America is the only country that have at most 5 portions plopped on their plate whether it be at home or at a restaurant. If you ever traveled outside the U.S. other nations have portion control which cuts down considerable amount of added calories/fat/trans fat/bad cholesterol etc.

Also, America consumes the most processed food. Totally bad for you.

Karma for you

But let's look at things this way- if displaying the nutritional content of foods shows people that there is a sizeable difference between ordering the small packet of french fries and the large, leading to more people making better informed decisions about their food...that can only be a good thing I say

 

[Whitelinen]

Is this really happening? I think it could be great. While it is true that there are calorie-obsessed people, the majority is not aware of them. Many people are amazed when they hear how many calories their Big Mac has. I think information is the way to go, and having this kind of nutritional information up is part of it. I hope the US and other countries with problems with obesity would do more about these things. I don't think the majority knows much about the healthy way of eating. Many know about the over-eating way and the dieting-way, but neither of them is any good. People need to get more education and they need to learn about balance.

While I am all for this I do think there are even bigger things the US could change if they want their citizens to be healthy.

 

[Erin]

I really like this. This is a big step. I rarely eat out, and when I do, I have a good amount of the calories involved... I know the calorie count of many, many thing... but I think this is a good building block to people wanting to get healthier and learn about calories and what their bodies are taking in.

 

[sakina]

I have a lot of mixed feelings about this actually.

I don't have many family/ friends who are obese/ overweight but I have grown up with people and friends with eating disorders. This will NOT be benefitial or helpful to know that a mere coffee can pack up to 400 calories. Or a meal can pack up to 2000 calories.

I think that all nutritional information should be available at request but having it on the coffee or food I'm about to eat... ?

A lot of nutritional information is already avilable online and I think if people are concerned about what they're eating they should be responsible enough to look it up themselves. I do it all the time.

 

[TheKiwi]

^ That's just how I feel. I feel like the information should be available for anyone that wants it, but having this information right in front of everyone is probably going to spark a lot of unhealthiness because it's just going to make people obsess over their food/coffee/drinks even more...

I think more information about healthy eating needs to be out there. These problems of obesity won't just fix themselves by putting nutritional information on everything when people have absolutely no idea what the things on there mean.

 

[Whitelinen]

Over here in Europe, or at least in countries belonging to EU I think, ALL foods and drinks have the nutritional information on them, it is necessary. If the product doesn't have this information people will find it odd and maybe not trustable. I don't think it is a problem to anyone, it's not in big letters in the front but it is available. Isn't it like this in the States?

 

[sakina]

WhiteLinen all packaged food/ store bought food has nutritional information on it but almost no restauraunts have nutritional information at the restauraunt. Most fast food (Wendy's, McDs, Burger Kings, etc...) has it available online, but there are a lot of large chains with not nutritional informational at all, or only available for 'heart healthy' meals or something.

 

[Whitelinen]

Ok

I don't think it would be something damaging to have this information around restaurants, especially fast food restaurants. Everyone who does go to eat a burger knows it is not healthy, and those who don't need a wake up call (I don't think such people exist though).

 

[Erin]

I don't understand why some people believe the calorie information should simply be available to those who want it. It currently is! Go online, and for many places - mostly fast food, coffeehouses, etc. - the menu and calorie information is listed.

I think that even if the information is available to everyone, only some will care to pay attention to it. C'mon, not everybody cares about what they consume... I don't think it should just be available to those who want it... because really, those who want the information will pay attention to it. And quite frankly, it couldn't hurt for everybody to know... for example, some of those Starbucks drinks are LETHAL. And really, they gross me out... how those sugary drinks can have hundreds of calories and barely any health benefits.

So, yes, I agree with this initiative. I think those that care about calories have already looked up online what they consume, anyway.