Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill Tuesday requiring restaurant chains with at least 20 locations to post the amount of calories of each of their menu items. This is one of those needless laws that I'm often complaining about in my columns. The idea of this bill is to encourage healthy eating. I'm all for that, but if you drag your family into a fast-food restaurant, and order the super-sized meal, who are you kidding?
I've had my share of fast food -- way too much of it at times -- but posting the calories of a Big Mac or the large fries would not have deterred me. I know that fries and burgers contain lots of calories saturated fat, carbohydrates and sodium. If I want the healthy choice, I know I should choose a salad.
Restaurants have until 2011 to comply with the new law. If consumers demand menu labeling, the restaurants will do it on their own as a business practice. Many do now.
Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Van Nuys, the bill's author, says his measure will help fight unhealthy eating habits that can lead to obesity, diabetes, heart disease and high blood
pressure. Nothing wrong with that, but I don't think this bill will do what's advertised. Plus, if this is such an important bill, why are we waiting until 2011 to implement it?
Some things are just common sense. Here's a hint. If you regularly order the large fries, you're probably not into healthy eating.
No wonder California can't get a budget passed and has such a huge deficit. Our government is wasting time and paper on this type of garbage. Our country has a Constitution, a Bill of Rights, and as added bonus we can use the Ten Comandments (fifteen if you believe Monty Python). All you need to live in this world peacefully. I have a better idea to stop obesity. If you can't pay with cash, don't go out to eat. It's a two-fer, it helps the credit crisis as well.
Well here's the worst part...since I have been wondering what the caloric and fat differences are between the Big Mac and the Chicken Club, I'm going to end up having to get the salad when I find out there isn't much difference at all.
As it is now, I can lie to myself and say I'm doing good by getting the chicken with the bacon, ranch and mayonnaise slopped on it.
I think it is helpful at sit down restaurants but fast food just takes common sense although you would be surprised to know that often the most logical things can have more calories than the worst things. Some salads are far more than the burger.
The next step is that the health insurance companies will get ahold of this information and use it to create charts to prorate your health coverage based on what you eat. They won't do that for smoking because it brings in too much tax revenue.
Don't worry Scot you can always fall back on the theory that if you eat it with a diet drink it's not as fattening...
Well you know, the #1 meal at In & Out is only 200 calories. I mean it has to be. They can't be the reason my pants are getting tighter!!!
I don't have much access to "Fast Food" but I do appreciate the government trying to do what's best for me...if only they had a clue.
Hello Fran B.
All I know right now is that I am not going to buy a third wardrobe in a different
size. Though keeping me broke might also keep down my size. Round and round.
If I had one, I could bite myself in the tail.
This is to the readers' own perception, and I am not inviting the rude remarks I get
pursuant to everything I post.
When the Clovis library was still on Pollasky Avenue I took home a book from
the new book shelf. The title was something like "Radioactive Fallout and its
Affects" Not too long ago I wanted to borrow the book again, but
Clovis and Fresno libraries said that the book never existed.
The item I am referring to explained that body fat protected the inner organs
from radioactive fallout, and since a species evolved according to need, we
might become a fatter species. The book also explained that there would be
more bone cancer because of strontium b; or whatever. But since bone cancer
takes about 30 years to develop to the point of being apparent, we just won't
know till then (the book referring to the future.) I was shocked to read about
the eyeless fish found in the Rhine river, and the children being born eyeless
in Japan. The book was not a yellow rag publication, but presented science in
a way for layman to understand. Was it right or wrong about their predictions
for the future; I can't ascertain since the book "never existed."
Isabell:
I'll still eat my In & Out Burgers from the new Clovis location. lol
It will never be enough. You can post the nutritional values and should but we the people still have to make the right choices and most people wont. We eat out for convenience and will continue to do so or we will have to bailout that industry too.
Why don't Republicans blame the media for obesity? It seems to make logic with everything else.
Oh yea, blame this on Bill Clintion, he liked burgers as well.
Actually, when the MSM comes on, I get up and get active because I just can't watch them.
Another law that shouldn't have been written or passes. Downright stupid. I read the article in the Bee from one of these persons supporting this law, as to how it was going to help. Sure!!! Do those who order these meals really care the amount of calories or fat they are taking in at that moment? They know those supersize fries are full of fat but don't care. They passed the law on using the cell phone in the cars but I see folks using them all the time. This will be the same. Perhaps we should stop by those who are overweight and ingesting these high fat products and remind them there's a new service about calories and fat content on the product they are consuming.