Should Restaurants Tell You How Many Calories You're Ordering?

You sit down at your typical chain restaurant, ready to order dinner. The thought of a juicy burger and fries has you salivating.

Is a number on the menu -- and we're not talking about the price tag -- going to stop you in your tracks?

Requirements that restaurants post calorie counts next to food items on their menus are one of the latest public-policy attempts at solving America's obesity epidemic.

Many restaurants make nutrition information available in brochures or on their Web sites. The aim of some new laws is to instead get the information in front of people when and where they order.

California, New York City and a few smaller cities have versions of this requirement in place now, and several other states and localities are considering them.

Last month, representatives of the restaurant industry struck a deal with members of Congress to support a nationwide requirement for calorie counts on menus.

The proposal could be included as part of the health care legislation package that is being debated in Congress. It would apply to chain restaurants that have 20 or more locations.

If you want a taste of what it's like to eat out with calorie counts staring you in the face, take a trip to Wegmans pizza bar in Fredericksburg.

Every pie in the sales case has a per-slice calorie listing on its label.

Jane Andrews, Wegmans' corporate nutrition manager, said the grocer has made a push over the past two years to display calorie information on all of its prepared foods. Full nutrition information for all of its products is available on its Web site.

Andrews said Wegmans started offering the information in response to the huge load of questions customers asked about its prepared foods.

"I think many people have a difficult time guessing on nutritional content but once you show them the information, they say, 'Oh, I can make a choice,'" Andrews said. "That's who we are trying to help."

But providing a requested piece of information to people who are already health-conscious is one thing.

The point of all of these new laws is to get people who are obese or at risk of developing diet-related illnesses to change their habits.

"Many ignore it totally," Andrews said of Wegmans' calorie counts. "That's fine, but if you do care and you're interested and we can help you shift to a healthier diet, why not?"

Taste vs. Health

After New York City's calorie-count requirement took effect earlier this year, food consulting firm Technomic surveyed city residents to see if it was changing their behavior.

Technomic found that 82 percent of respondents said the nutrition information on restaurant menus made an impact on their orders.

Of those, 71 percent said they sought out lower-calorie options, and 51 percent stopped ordering certain items altogether.

Still, there are plenty of diners who don't want their purchases determined by that little number.

Fredericksburg, Va.-area dietitian Nancy Farrell recalls hearing her friend, who is a nurse, talk about a trip to New York City after the calorie-disclosure requirement went into effect.

"She said she saw the numbers up there but she still ordered what she was going to order," Farrell said.

All the same, she thinks more information is a good idea, though she cautions people to remember that "calories are only one piece of the puzzle."

When you're looking at a restaurant menu, she said, there are a lot of other clues to be attuned to.

Be a Food Detective

In a lot of ways, Farrell says, eating right at a restaurant is about making sure you are informed about what goes into your order, and what options you may have to alter it.

Among the clues to look for:

If a dish is described as "crispy," it's probably been fried, which adds calories and fat.

Asking your waiter how big an entree is before you order can clue you in to whether a dish is big enough for two people to share.

Cream-based soups and sauces are going to pack a lot more calories than broth- or vegetable-based ones.

Asking for salad dressing on the side is a simple way to control how much cream or oil your vegetables are slathered in.

True Value Meals

Farrell also warns against what she calls the "meal deal trap."

When you're at a fast-food drive-through window and someone asks if you want to make your soda and fries bigger for just a few more pennies, your natural desire for a bargain can easily cause you to end up with far more food than you need.

Instead, she urges consumers to "put your value on your health and not on the quantity of food you get for a bargain."

Farrell said she's encouraged by the steps she sees some restaurants taking voluntarily to provide more nutrition information to customers.

"I think restaurants and cafes are doing better at understanding that they, too, represent another piece of the puzzle in terms of health," she said.

If calorie listings become a government requirement, Farrell said she thinks that's just another step toward making people more aware of what they're putting in their bodies.

But she hopes people won't just stop at a single calorie count when it comes to learning more about food choices.

"I would hope that it would just help them to take ownership of their nutritional health," she said.