Calorie Counts At Restaurants?

Apparently a half-dozen states are considering food labeling requirements for restaurants:

...chain and fast-food restaurants with 20 or more franchises would have to post calorie counts on menu boards - Big Mac, 590 calories; Starbucks' grande cafe mocha, 400 calories - and more extensive nutrition information, such as percentages of trans and saturated fats, sodium and cholesterol, on menus.

This raises some intriguing questions - exactly whose responsbility is it to be the 'food police'? Having nutritional information for all foods gives the consumer the power to make informed choices. However it must also detract from the simple pleasure of eating out - being bombarded with calorie counts wherever we go certainly makes eating a guilt-inducing experience.

How many people actually care? Fast food (which is what most franchises server) is about speed, price, and convenience. If you really want nutritional info - you can get it. But there is also the issue of the sheer caloric density of some restaurant foods - as the article points out:

The food experts consistently underestimated the caloric content in the 1,550-calorie meal - they were off by an average of 685 calories - in a study of 200 dietitians by the Center for Science in the Public Interest and New York University.
"If well-trained food professionals can't accurately estimate calorie content in a plate of food, you can be sure the average consumer is at a loss when looking at a menu."

Note that the strudy was commissioned by the CSPI - who are often considered as nutrition activists.

State control or personal responsibility? Where does the boudnary lie?

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