Thursday, August 26, 2010

A question: nutrition guides on menus?

A few days a go, we went to lunch at Jason's Deli. I always get the same thing there, so I don't even look at the menu- but I wanted to check out the kids menu this time for Cameron. It's been awhile since I had been to Jason's, so I hadn't noticed that they were now putting calories, fat and saturated fat content under each menu item.

I know that in New York, all restaurants and places that serve food drinks must put this information on their menus. I thought it was a neat idea and a helpful step for those wanting to make better eating choices- but I had never seen it on menus here in Kansas.

Anyway, I was going to get Cameron a grilled cheese sandwich (a no fail lunch for him) until I realized that it had 26 grams of fat. I don't recall the calorie count or amount of sodium, but it instantly steered me away and I ended up ordering him a turkey sandwich, which only had 11 grams of fat (with the fat mostly coming from the cheese, I'll bet). In that moment I definitely knew that I would make better choices for my family and myself when it comes to eating out if this information were mandatory on all menus.

Would you make better choices seeing fat and calorie content on menus? What if you were deciding between two items- would this push you to pick the item that might be better for you? Would it even affect you at all? I'm interested to know!

7 comments:

Jen said...

I would definitely appreciate it - especially when I am following Weight Watchers. That kind of information would help me calculate points.

Lyndsay said...

I would definitely make better choices, but overall I know how to look for those hidden calories/fat grams. I think that information should be required on menu's nationwide.

Kristen said...

I hope that I would make better decisions! I tend to forget to look at the fat and only look at calories. I need to teach myself some better guidelines!

leah @maritalbless said...

Wow! 26grams of fat! Good job on the turkey sandwich.

Personally I love nutrition guides, but in general I do eat pretty healthy, so I don't think that they would change my choice much.

Tori Bella said...

I *try* to almost always check the nutritional information when I'm out. Generally, it makes me make better decisions. The only place I can't seem to make good choices at is Taco Bell because I just can't give up my Nacho Supreme minus meat and tomatoes!!

Sarah said...

Oh god, I would be screwed!!!! But yes, it would be helpful and probably make me decide to go with the "lighter" option instead. Thanks for your super sweet comments about the nursery, it means a lot coming from you! I'm psyched I didn't get chicken out about the dark pink drapes on the light blue walls. Yay! Can't wait until you get to start working on your girl's nursery:) PS. Sweet score on the free sheets with the gift card!

sheba said...

i think nutrition guides on menus are fabulous! when living in nyc, i really thought twice before picking up a baked good with my afternoon latte at starbucks. though i generally know what's better for me, it was eye-opening to see the fat/calories/sodium in some foods.

LinkWithin

Related Posts Widget for Blogs by LinkWithin