How to Be a Conscious Eater

The quality of the snack or meal or beverage you’re pur-

chasing is ultimately the most important health consideration

related to calories—what it offers by way of nutrients, taste,

experience, happiness, provenance, production profile, and so

on, and what it costs, so to speak, in terms of any negative nutri-

tional or environmental impact. But the quantity still matters.

There are at least three other important reasons that calo-

rie labeling can be worthwhile:

TRANSPARENCY

If nothing else, think of calorie labeling as one window for

understanding the food you’re about to put into your body.

If you’re going to down a Starbucks Peppermint Mocha

Frappuccino at 450 calories, menu labeling allows you to con-

sume the calories (and gobs of sugar!) intentionally, rather

than finding out about the calories and sugar after the fact—or

not at all. And if by then you’re not feeling so great, labeling

can give you insight into why. Or if you’re like me and like to

play around with the Starbucks nutrition widget, you can see

that just skipping the whipped cream saves you more than

100 calories. I don’t even like whipped cream, so skipping it

actually improves my overall satisfaction with the drink. Or

maybe you’re craving a Caramel Macchiato but don’t really

need the grande. Opting for a tall saves at least 40 calories. It’s

your right to know what you’re putting in your body.

REFORMULATION

Guess what might be the best outcome of calorie labeling?

Options become healthier before they even hit the menu board.

Knowing that they have to divulge the calorie information can

motivate food providers to reformulate. Chain restaurants

that have had to comply with the regulation—from fast food to

St u f f t h at’s made in restaurant kitchens 245

Conscious Eater_04 PT_4th patches.indd 245 10/23/19 1:38 PM