How to Be a Conscious Eater

58

THE CASE FOR

CALORIE LABELING

A

fter nearly a decade of hullabaloo among legislators and

lobbyists, consumer rights advocates and nutritionists,

calorie labeling is now the law of the land in the United

States—at least for chain restaurants, movie theaters, and

other places like convenience stores and vending machines

that have twenty or more outlets. Research shows that when

eating out compared with at home, we’re more likely to overeat,

consume less nutritious food, and misjudge calorie content. No

question: All of these realities gradually and collectively con-

tribute to the Mayday-level obesity situation we’re in—and to

the many diet-related chronic diseases that come with it, from

high blood pressure to type 2 diabetes.

The unfortunate news is that putting calorie counts on

menus only sort of helps. And not everyone, not by that much,

not all the time.

That said, with the severity of the health crisis upon us,

any measure found to help some people make some positive

dent can be quite valuable. For instance, in one study in New

York City, only 15 percent of fast food customers used menu

labels at all. But those who did ordered about 100 fewer calo-

ries for their fast food lunch meal. Which is huge, because the

Center for Science in the Public Interest tells us that the whole

enchilada of the obesity epidemic is made up of a 200-calorie

surplus per person per day (on average). The people in the New

York City study would be halfway there.

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