New York City restaurants reveal calories
Restaurants in New York have now begun posting calorie counts on their menus in a move which has sparked confusion, controversy and customers thinking twice.
Effective from yesterday (21st April) the new rules were opposed by The New York State Restaurant Association, who has now launched an appeal to stop the health department in its tracks.
Many customers are changing their buying habits with The New York Times reporting from Starbucks and hearing one customer say: "Wow, the blueberry scone is 480 calories. It makes me not buy, for sure."
Only restaurants with 15 or more outlets are required to display the information with all the big American fast-food chains the main targets of the campaign.
However, this rule only applies to 10% of New York's 23,000 restaurants.
Starbucks is displaying stickers on packaging and restaurant chain Quiznos is highlighting calorie counts on their menu boards.
The rules are receiving a mixed reaction.
Rebecca Solomon, a nutritionist has welcomed the changes but warned that displaying calories alone will not fight obesity, telling the NY Times: "Every single person has different caloric needs. Just because you know the Rice Krispie treat is 430 calories doesn't mean you have an understanding of how that fits into your caloric requirements. Calories alone don't tell you about nutritional content."
Rebecca added: "Knowing that your 300-calorie frappuccino, and that's probably on the low end of frappuccino expenditure, and your Rice Krispie treat could be close to half of the calories you need…no wonder we're in an obesity crisis."
Chuck Hunt, a spokesman for the restaurant association said: "We don't object to the information being provided. We'd like to work out a way for restaurants to provide this information in a manner that's most appropriate for their customers. These aren't military secrets here, and restaurants are happy to provide the information. The disagreement is about how it should be done."
Words: Clare Riley
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