I’ve written a number of blog posts about calories on restaurant menus. I’ve publicly debated the pros and cons with myself and others who have shared their interesting viewpoints. But now it is starting to get more fun…
We are starting to see article about the “after shock” of NYC requiring calories on menus. At TGI Fridays the petite sirloin and broccoli can’t stay in stock and salad sales have gone cold. Think about it… who would guess that a steak and broccoli can have fewer calories than a salad. It’s all those high fat extras (cheese, dressing, bacon, croutons etc.) that usually put a salad out of reach. Consumers are griping about the calories in their muffins and it appears that at least for now – some people (at least the health conscious ones) are making changes to what they are ordering.
So, now the question becomes… how quickly will other states and counties start regulating and who will be the first chain to go national with calories (and possibly other info) on menus and menu boards? Oh, and one more question… are there people out there who are convinced that this is a terrible idea?
Well, at least one dietitian thinks that calories on menus is a must-do judging from her insightful op-ed on the poor nutrition quality of the P’Zone pizza from Pizza Hut. Here’s an excerpt and if you like it you can read the full op-ed at TheStar.com
If customers knew about the P’Zone’s nutritional profile, would it still be so popular? It’s now going from a promotional offering to a permanent menu item. But at 1,560 calories and 3,840 milligrams of sodium for a Cheesy P’Zone, the offering makes a Big Mac look like health food.
Consider that the recommended sodium intake – the DRI or Dietary Reference Intake – is 1,500 milligrams per day for people aged 19 to 50, and 1,300 milligrams per day for those aged 51 to 70. The upper level for sodium is 2,300 milligrams per day. Have a Cheesy P’Zone and you’re almost doubling the maximum amount of sodium in just one food choice.
Think of it as the caloric equivalent of almost three Big Macs. As for sodium, it tallies in just shy of three Big Macs and two large fries at McDonalds.
With this new calorie- and sodium-laden offering, Pizza Hut offers more weight to the argument that it’s time to legislate that chain restaurants list nutrition information on their menu boards. While there are those who would state that such laws promote a nanny state, logic doesn’t back this up. Providing consumers with the information that can help them make knowledgeable decisions is anything but.
TV ads promoting the P’Zone have been on the air for quite a while, yet the nutrition info is still not available on the company’s website. A phone call weeks ago to the firm’s consumer telephone line yielded no results either. The above figures came from the Toronto office of the public relations firm that handles media queries for Yum! Brands, Inc., the company behind chains like Pizza Hut, KFC and Taco Bell.
Ok first, wow… the calories in three big macs! Second, this is one of the reasons why I’ve been a proponent of regulation as of late… You have to be highly motivated to search out the information and even then you may not find it, as the op-ed author struggled to get it in Canada. I do have to give pizza hut snaps for this nutrition calculator where you can plan a meal but the Pzone isn’t listed. I was able to find the info by googling “pzone nutrition facts” and following a link to a PDF that was very informative (nutrition facts and allergies right there). So you can get it if you are highly motivated. But don’t get tricked. The serving size listed is 1/2 of the Pzone. That’s one thing that would change with the restaurant menu laws. Most say you have to list the calories based on what you serve the person so the calories listed is for the whole Pzone.
How far would eating one set you back? Well… I am training for a marathon so I thought it would be fun to see how far I would have to run to burn off the calories in one P’zone. It varies depends on weight. A 150 pound person would have to run a half marathon – that’s 13.1 miles to burn 1552 calories, just shy of the 1560 calories referenced in the op-ed. (dare to calculate yours?) I’d have to run 15 miles and let me tell you… 15 miles is grueling and likely not worth the few minutes it takes to down a Pzone… at least not for me. If you’re not training hard, but say you are exercising (cardio and weights) for 3 hours a week, you’d have to work out for a week and a half to break even on the calories in one Pzone. Yikes!
Here’s a quick tip to have your Pzone and eat it too… Share! Cut it in 2-3 portions and eat it at home on a nice dinner plate, but before you dig in, start with a colorful veggie-based salad. Skip the cheese, meat, croutons etc because you’ll get that in your Pzone and go easy on the dressing. Now, we’re talking about a dinner that is more in line with recommendations for a balanced meal. And if the portion is too small for you, get over it! Seriously, see what you can do to overcome it. Smaller plates? Maybe serve the salad on the dinner plate and the Pzone on the salad plate. If you take your time to eat the salad and have a nice conversation, I think you’d be surprised how much you really don’t “need” to eat the Pzone by yourself. After dinner, enjoy a hot cup of herbal tea and if you are still hungry a few hours later, snack on a piece of fresh fruit like some pineapple, which helps in digestion.
It has been awhile since I asked… calories on menus? Yay or nay?
Filed under: eating healthy, food, nutrition, policy | Tagged: pizza hut, pzone
Yay
100% Yay!!!
I have always been a big ‘free market’ guy, but in this case the ‘free market’ had no incentive to put calorie counts on thier menus.
Now that they have, people are voting for change with their pocketbooks.
Hopefully, businesses who react quickly to this shift in restaurant purchases will thrive and encourage other businesses to put nutrition info on their menus without being forced to.
Thanks for the info.
I agree… and reformulate products that can be healthier. I see a lot of that going on.
Not sure if you have Safeway… but they have an “eating right” line and recently launched a line for kids. I noticed on some of the cereal labels they are using real sugar (no HFCS), whole grains, and very few “other” ingredients all at a good price point.
I think they are smart… clearly looking at consumer preferences and behaviors.
- Rebecca
Absolutely put the nutritional content on restaurant menus. I think this would make so many people think twice before they order something. If the information is not there it’s like that saying “out of sight, out of mind”. That’s the problem with this country, we are facing a serious obesity epidemic because we just don’t want to sit down and face the facts that the American diet is horrible. I’m sure we could eliminate so many health issues and diseases if we paid as much attention to our diet as we do the things we enjoy so much. Pizza Hut should be ashamed for creating a menu item with so many calories. We have to start somewhere so if putting the nutritional info on menus is where it all has to begin then so be it. We obviously are not disciplined enough to watch what we eat so this is a way of kind of putting that information right in your face and making you accountable. In a way it’s kind of like tough love, it’s really for our own good. Excellent article and wonderful idea, push for it all the way!
Restaurants are not in the business of keeping us healthy.
They sell us the food that we want to eat.
If we didn’t eat it, they wouldn’t sell it.
OK, the free market part of me is happy.
I think it’s great that just a short time after NYC instituted this bylaw, restaurants are already seeing a shift in meal purchases. I could never understand how people didn’t know that drowning some iceberg lettuce in 1000 Island dressing was supposed to be healthy.
Slap a calorie count on a menu and people are forced to think about their food, not just order and eat it unconsciously.
Yes I agree that there needs to be a market of health-conscious eaters making noise asking for healthy food and the calorie info.
I don’t think it is just a matter of “discipline”… The knowledge and awareness of basic nutrition info among the masses is so limited. How many people know their calorie guidelines? Most would answer 2,000 because that has been drilled in for decades, but it could be wrong depending on your age, gender, and activity level.
I am not surprised that the fast food / restaurant salads are presumed to be healthier. Hey, salads are made with fresh vegetables after all. But the dressings and non-veggie add ons gets ya. So someone could be “disciplined” and order the salad, but alas it was the wrong choice because they didn’t have the info.
Even someone with my qualifications can have a really difficult time determining what is the “healthiest” choice. I usually go by the description, but the truth is your chances of being accurate about your guess — and still enjoying what you order — is probably pretty small unless the nutrition info is provided.
While we wait for widespread nutrition info, I think the “healthiest” thing we can do for ourselves is limit the amount of eating at fast food or restaurants considerably and just eat more meals at home. When you prepare the food you can control the fat, oil, salt and whatever else you want. You can get “shortcut” help from bagged salads and frozen vegetables. Even the busiest families can have a dedicated pasta night (pasta and salad) and rotisserie chicken night (chicken with skin removed and steamed mixed vegetables with a whole grain roll), and fish night (fish with brown rice and vegetables). All these meals can be made in 15 minutes.
One thing that does worry me is even once the info is displayed, we basically need to trust that the recipes were followed. My culinary colleagues say that substitutions are made and recipes are tweaked (more butter, more butter) all the time in restaurants. So really perhaps you could even argue that the most useful application of calories on menus is with fast food chains where everything is standard.
Well it looks like Los Angeles is going to follow up with their own law soon. Focused on requiring chains to disclose calories while leaving the mom & pops alone. I think it is a great step to help people become more conscious of their choices but more is needed. I’d like to see warnings placed on items that contain non-food chemicals like aspartame for one. As you mentioned, choosing healthy foods is hard enough for people educated about nutrition but misinformation makes it impossible for the average consumer with no label to compare with.
Hi Bryant!
I heard the news about L.A. Please keep me informed on the status… especially once information is posted.
I think for now you are going to need to read ingredients lists to find the additives. I think acesulfame K is the sweetener that has not been as rigorously tested as asparatame. But usually these two appear together in all the diet processed foods and beverages.
Even so, I think more and more consumers are looking for “natural”… hence, a big rush to get stevia approved as a food additive. I also see consumers wanting to avoid HFCS and would rather see just plain old sugar instead.
Just looking at the obesity epidemic, we seem to have a lot of people who just go with the flow and eat what is presented to them. But for the people who are health conscious, I feel they deserve to have access to all the nutritional information so that sane, logical choices can be made. When the food industry wants to hide this from you, don’t you feel like you are being manipulated? I certainly do! I want to provide my family with healthful choices instead of filling stock holders pockets with money earned from artery clogging, fat and sodium soaked, so called food!
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