The Need for Nutrition Facts and Calories on Restaurant Menus
By
Kristen Roberts
EN 101-H1
Dr. Kerr
6 December 2010
The Need for Nutrition Facts and Calories on Restaurant Menus
A taste worth dying for, the Heart Attack Grill is located in Arizona and comes with a warning posted outside: “Caution this place is bad for your health.” (Schneider). The single, double, triple, and quadruple bypass burgers are the most popular on the menu which come with a side of unlimited Flatliner Fries soaked in lard (Schneider). The quadruple bypass burger itself contains 8,000 calories (Schneider). A 30 year old man weighing 250 pounds and standing 75 inches tall needs 3,212 calories each day to maintain his weight; eating this burger and almost 5,000 calories over the recommendation in one sitting could prove fatal or damaging to his health (“Calorie Calculator Results”). Customers may read the sign outside that cautions unhealthy food inside, but they do not know how many calories or what ingredients are in the food item. Not knowing what food consists of in a restaurant can trigger several serious health issues (Carmona). However, this can be prevented. Restaurants should provide calories and nutrition facts on their menus to help prevent obesity in America, aid customers with diabetes, and avoid food allergies and other food-related reactions.
Obesity is a whale of a problem in the United States. Around two thirds of Americans are overweight or suffer from obesity (Carmona). An additional one in every eight American deaths stem from a direct overweight or obesity illness (Carmona). To further monitor caloric intake, Americans need assistance in knowing what is in their food when they go out to eat. If calories were placed next to selections on a menu, smarter choices could be made, and therefore American obesity rates could drop. Some who oppose the posting of calories and nutrition facts may say that the calories are already required to be posted online (Mora). However, not every American has access to a computer; one fourth of Americans have no internet access (“75% of Americans Have Internet Access”). If the information was posted on the menu everyone who ate there would have easy access. Posting the nutrition information and calories will hopefully deter consumers from unhealthy choices. For example, if one were to go to Burger King and order the large Triple Whopper with Cheese Value Meal with large French Fries and a medium BK Strawberry Sundae Shake, they would be consuming 2770 calories (“Burger King”). Not to mention the unhealthy amount of sodium one would be consuming, 3040 mg, and fat, 145 g (“Burger King”). Foods in restaurants like Burger King have hidden nutritional dangers. Over 15 million Burger King customers in 50 states and 58 countries are served daily ("Burger King Corporation"). Therefore, 15 million customers do not know what they are eating each day because of the lack of nutritional and caloric labels on menus. The unsuspecting consumer then becomes another potential victim of obesity. Posting certain information on menus would also fight obesity by aiding Americans trying to diet, watch their cholesterol, or fat intake (Lehrer). Opposing views of releasing this nutritional information on menus may say that if people are on a diet they should not eat out, especially at fast food restaurants. However, healthy choices can be made at restaurants as long as the nutritional information is readily available (Mora). At Burger King, one could order a BK Hamburger for 260 calories, 490 mg of sodium, and only 10 g of fat (“Burger King”). If the correct information was placed on menus the good choices on a menu would be separated from the bad choices. Customers would naturally be deterred from the bad choices. Therefore, placing nutritional information on the menus would increase the chance that a consumer would choose the good choice, and in the long run, avoid being overweight or obese. Also, some choices on a menu that appear healthy may not be (Rogers). A customer may see a salad on the menu and assume it is healthy (Rogers). However, they may be unaware that the high fat dressing and other toppings the salad is served with make the salad an unhealthy choice (Rogers). For example, if one were to go to Bob Evans and order the Cranberry Pecan Chicken Salad they would be consuming a whopping 1,108 calories (“Bob Evans”). American restaurant patrons deserve a fair warning for these hidden dangers. Opposing views may state that restaurants will lose business once people see how many calories are in their food and what it is made of (Mora). The American people and their health should be more important than a restaurant having a booming business. With the declining amount of American health, because of obesity, fewer patrons will be visiting restaurants because they will become one of the many Americans that die because of obesity. Posting calories and nutritional information on restaurant menus would help fight obesity by making Americans aware of what their consuming, aiding dieters, and generally deterring bad food choices.
In 2006, diabetes was the seventh leading cause of death in the United States. (“Diabetes Statistics”). As of 2007 there were 17.9 million Americans diagnosed with diabetes (“Diabetes Statistics”). Obviously, this is a colossal problem in the United States and the disease affects an enormous portion of Americans. Diabetics, especially ones diagnosed with type two diabetes, need to watch what they eat because it directly affects their blood sugar (Hill). Eating the wrong thing could send them into diabetic shock or cause discomfort with other symptoms (Hill). If diabetics go out to eat, it must be very difficult for them to begin with. They are supposed to avoid consuming things such as refined and processed food, sugary drinks, caffeine, bad fats, and large amounts of alcohol (Hill). If they eat too much of these foods and others they could die (Wool). Posting nutritional information is important for the safety of American diabetics. They cannot help their condition and it is in the governments hands to assist them. Opposing views may argue that the cost of putting all this information of a menu will cost the government and restaurants a lot of money (Rogers). However, the government assists Americans with other disabilities. For example, handicapped citizens get special parking spaces. America’s diabetics should also be aided by the government by requiring restaurants to post nutrition information on their menus. It is not right tend to one disadvantaged group of American’s and not another. Other opposing views may say that diabetics should know what they can and cannot eat when going out to restaurants (Mora). However, how will they know if they do not know what is in the food they are ordering. Posting the correct information on menus could potentially save a diabetics life. For example, at Panera Bread if a diabetic were to order a Caesar salad they would be consuming 250 calories from fat (“Panera Bread”). Diabetics are supposed to avoid bad fats with calories from fat being one of those dangerous fats (Hill). Restaurants should provide nutritional information on their menus to aid diabetics in the ongoing fight for their life.
Besides diabetes, there are many other food-related allergies and reactions. Eight foods make up ninety percent of all allergies to food (“Allergens”). Those foods are milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, shellfish, soy, and fish (“Allergens”). All of these allergies can be fatal depending on the seriousness of the allergy and the amount of the food ingested (“Allergens”). Some opposing the requirement of nutritional information on menus may argue that people with such reactions and allergies have been seen by a doctor and know what they cannot eat. However, there are hidden ingredients in foods that one would never suspect (“Allergens”). For example, tree nuts could be found in barbeque sauce and eggs can be found in toppings on specialty coffee drinks (“Allergens”). People with these allergies cannot be expected to know every single food item that contains the substance they are allergic too. Also, restaurants cook their foods differently and could add an uncommon ingredient in an unsuspecting food (“Allergens”). For example, there could be milk in a steak dinner because the cook melted butter on top of the steak (“Allergens”). The butter is not visible after it is melted and a person with an allergy to milk would not know until they took a bite and had a reaction. This could easily be avoided by posting nutritional facts on restaurant menus so people with allergies could avoid potentially dangerous foods. Another reaction to foods that could be avoided with labeling menus is lactose intolerance. Lactose intolerance is trouble digesting foods that contain lactose; lactose is a type of sugar found in dairy products such as milk and cheese (Gavin). Once again, many unsuspecting foods such as bread and cereal contain lactose, and people affected with this disorder should be given a fair warning on appropriate menu labels (Gavin). One could form an argument that posting this information on menus would not be worth it because it is only benefitting a few people with food allergies. However, 7.8 million people have food allergies in America (Bradley). The other complication involving food, lactose intolerance, affects 30 to 50 million Americans on different levels of severity (Gavin). So basically around 60 million Americans are affected by food allergies and reactions; this does not even include diabetes or other food complications. Therefore, adding this information to menus would aid over 60 million Americans and would be well worth the money spent. Nutritional information on menus would benefit and assist Americans with food-related illnesses or reactions because they would be able to conveniently see all of the ingredients in the food that they were eating; they could avoid having a severe reaction to the food if the information were readily available.
Several cities, such as New York City, have attempted to enforce this law (Lehrer). The city passed a law requiring nutritional information to be posted on menus in March but it was overturned on a technicality (Lehrer). Eighteen other cities and states have menu laws in the works (Lehrer). 900 million dollars are spent every year on restaurant food and the number is increasing with time (Lehrer). As of now, almost all Americans that spend this money and go out to eat are not eating at restaurants with calories and nutritional information posted on their menus. Therefore, all Americans are at risk for obesity or food-related reactions related to an illness or allergy. In fact, most food allergic reactions occur in restaurants (Taylor). Also, foods in restaurants have proven to be unhealthier than homemade food (Lehrer). Diabetics also have an increased chance of complications when dining out, most likely because they do not know what they are eating (“Diabetes Basics”). A simple redesigning of the menu could provide calories and nutrition facts to help prevent obesity in America, aid customers with diabetes, and avoid food allergies and other food-related reactions.
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