Calorie Info Law Leading to Lots of Fines

The Department of Health has issued 682 violations to local restaurants since a new law took effect in April requiring eateries with more than fifteen locations nationwide to prominently display calorie information. Fines range between $200 and $2,000, and McDonald’s has the highest number of violations with 103. (Dunkin Donuts is second with 89.) Some restaurants are still refusing to comply, while others were busted for not posting the info as the law requires. For instance, the calorie stats can't be smaller than the text describing the food. And while the restaurant industry is still appealing the law, at least one consumer has found the information enlightening: Dr. Mary Bassett, deputy commissioner of health promotion, tells Crain's, "I’ve given up tuna fish and chicken salad. Without that information [on the menu], I wouldn’t have guessed, and I’m a medical doctor."

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By John Del Signore in Food on October 14, 2008 2:20 PM

Comments [rss]

Shinobi Shaw

#18 I am latin too and my mom and grandma bake/stew their beans, and minimize oil on the rice.

The problem is not the food (I have no idea where pete got the notion of 'Friend Beans" and "Friend Rice." I don't know any Latinos who 'fry' their beans.

The problem is that the fat latinos don't get enough exercise and when they are out usually eat at Fast Food chains.

So it's the Fast food diet (not the traditional latin cuisine) that is making them fat.

SeasTooFarToReach

The kid in the picture is not puerto rican... and most of the really fat people I see are black.

That said, you are right pete. Latin people use too much oil... I should know :/

The calorie law is a really good measure. It helps you asses if it's worth it. I mean, if I eat a whopper once a month for like 1000 calories, it's not that bad, because it's a big food and filling. But there are stuff out there that won't even fill you up and have like 1500 calories and 2000 calories. WTF.

Fritzdecat

I think you mean Michelin

pete

@10

Its the fried rice, fried beans, and fried chicken for dinner after the fast food.

All these immigrant eat like their are pick and shovel coal miners from their 3rd world countries. Problem is they don't have gulag camp jobs in the USA. Then there are the immigrant moms who get an orgasm out of forcing their kids/family to eat like gluttons after a winter famine.

"but nobody ever got fat back home!!!!!!"

JenChungsBaby

Yeah, I was surprised to see that the chicken burrito there was so high not just in calories but in fat as well.

And there's not even any mayo on it.

SikBug

I stopped eating Chipotle after I found the burrito I have made there has 1300 freakn calories in it.

ianmac47

This really is a brilliant bit of legislation, and is probably already significantly altering many people's dietary choices. It probably also steers many consumers to healthier menu items-- items that those with a good business sense should simply mark up. Tuna fish for $5 and 1000 calories, or carrot sticks for $10 and 100 calories? Yeah, you get the point.

midtown

Knowledge is power.

Step 1: Calorie content should be standard on all food products - for all eateries.

Step 2: Teach the fat f%*%s how to add.

Shinobi Shaw

#7 it's probably not the Rice & Beans but the fast food crap they eat in the day (before dinner at home).

Bizzle

Looks like the kid in the picture is going to be fit for a mobile home soon.

NannyState

Disgusting.

ur doing it rong

It's abuelita's pot of rice and beans that needs the calorie sign. Half of the obese little kids I see are puerto rican.

ides_of_march

Thou shalt eat tofu.

ganghiscon

Wow, not only is Bassett a doctor, she's "the city’s deputy commissioner of health promotion and disease prevention."

And she needed a fucking sign to tell her mayo is high in calories. What a dolt.

breaknight

Yeah, I think Dr. Mary Bassett may be losing some patients soon.

[shaking fist, a la Colbert] "MAYO!!!!"

ganghiscon

"I’ve given up tuna fish and chicken salad. Without that information [on the menu], I wouldn’t have guessed, and I’m a medical doctor."

The doctor didn't know mayonnaise is highly caloric?