The state of New York recently required any restaurant with more than 15 locations to post the calorie count of the food on the menu.  Categories include: calories, carbs, proteins, fats and saturated fats.  Hopefully it includes trans fats as well.

I can’t tell you how much I applaud their efforts for here in Massachusetts we don’t have this law yet.

 There is a restaurant right around the corner from my house that shall remain nameless, let’s just say it has two numbers in its name.  Every couple of months I would call the corporate headquarters and ask them for a copy of the nutritional information of the food they serve.  They keep promising that it will be on the website soon.  It is now 3 years and it still has not been added.  What do they have to hide?  

After doing some research I found other websites that had taken their food to go, and tested it in a lab and reported on the nutritional info.  To say it is horrifying would be an understatement.  If a person goes into a restaurant and orders a hamburger and fries they know they are not eating healthy.  What about the person who orders a salad and thinks they are doing the right thing, or the person that orders Chicken, Broccoli and ziti?

You may be surprised at some foods that on the surface sound healthy, however, once you look a little closer you realize how poor some of these choices are.

Lets look at the nutrition info on 3 choices at our local restaurant.

Steakburger w/ Fries:  1440 calories, 80 grams of fat

Wild Bleu Chicken and Spinach Salad 1270 calories, 82 grams of fat

Chicken Broccoli and Ziti Dinner:  1880 calories, 94 grams of fat.

Now if I told you that the Steakburger and fries would have the least amount of fat you would have said I was crazy.

 THIS is why they need to disclose to us the nutritional info.  People see chicken, broccoli and ziti and they think they are doing the right thing.

Please call your local representatives and ask them to consider backing this bill, our very health depends on it.