Ontario doctors urge fast-food chains, schools to list calories

With as much as we know about how calories and fat and cholesterol and of course those pesky carbs affect us you'd think something like this would be required.  I mean, it's required on everything you can buy in the grocery store (here in the U.S. at least, not sure about up your way, Anna).

I think ANY business that sells or provides prepared/ready-to-eat food should be required to have a nutrition information sheet available to customers that want it.  And it should list every dish separately.  I know that I enjoy Applebee's baby back ribs but when I order the meal I change out the sides.  Applebee's does not offer nutrition information and the only info I can find is on sites like Calorie King.  Too bad it offers the meal as a whole, as listed on the menu.

I don't think it should be required to be on the menu or menu boards.  That would take up a lot of space and I'm sure there are plenty of people that know they're eating something unhealthy and would rather not know just how unhealthy.  But if they had fact sheets available (either paper or cardstock that could be taken with the customer or even ones made out of the same material as the menu that could be handed out and collected with the menus) I think it would be the best way to do it without it being bothersome in situations where the info was unneeded or unwanted.

Hi Anna,

I have mixed feelings on this one.  Those boards aren't big enough to see the all the information I would want.  I do not particularly care about fat and calories since I assume they are high.  I know from taste they are ridiculously high in salt. 

It's been 6 months, but the last fast food "meal" I ate was a chicken sandwich (not not broiled, that's just plain nasty) at Burger King.  There was very little protein.  It was mostly by products (no, not kidding), carbs and plenty of insulin desensitizing fats. 

That information is already available in a pamphlet which was on the counter.  Not rocket science to pick it up if one is interested.  The same information is available online for most of the fast food restaurants in question (at least here).

So, as always I concluded that it is likely to be another 6 months to a year before I take a mouthful.  I used to feel comfortable eating Dunkin Donuts egg and cheese on Thomas' English muffin but they've switched over to new "cooking" equipment which make the egg taste even more rubbery and it's not hot.  So ... it's almost safer to eat a donut or my usual preference, go hungry.

My point ... I don't think putting this stuff on a board is practical, necessary or likely to be helpful since if people want to eat garbage they will, whether the fact that it contains pigs feet is in big red letters or not.

Doris J. Dickson