How menu labeling can help you detect good food gone bad

Last night I ate dinner out with a dear friend at a local Applebee's.

   This particular Applebee's had calorie information for a few items on its print menu.  It had comprehensive nutrition information on its website.  You can see that information here.  I accessed (and assessed) the information prior to my visit, but I could have seen it from my smartphone while at the table.  Not everyone can do either of those two things.
  While dining, I told my friend that I saw some items on the menu that had over 2000 calories.  This was in reference to the research articles I talked about here, which showed the average restaurant meal has over 1000 calories, more than half a days worth for many of us.
   She asked me which items, but I could not remember at the time.  I looked again today and it was the appetizer sample and two dishes with riblets.
   My friend and I both ordered the blackened tilapia meal which had a very reasonable 410 calories (as opposed to the fish and chips which had 1690!).  My meal had less than 410 calories because I asked the chef not to use butter and I replaced the potatoes with steamed broccoli (great service from the wait person and manager, Winston Salem, NC).  My friend and I ate similar volumes of food but I had fewer calories (I make these choices because I like to eat many times a day).  
   The tilapia looked like a good choice and it was a good choice. I can't say the same for the grilled chicken salad which had 1290 calories.  There was also this great find on the children's menu.  The item was titled 'Kids Celery Side with Dressing."  In case you didn't know, 3 whole cups of chopped celery has less than 50 calories.  This 'low calorie' vegetable side item had 220 calories - I am guessing that about 200 of those calories were from the dressing.  To be fair, the celery - even with this dressing - had half the calories of the kids french fries.
    Speaking of kids meals, remember this post regarding the nutrition in children's meals at certain restaurants.  Applebee's did make it to the low end of the upper half of the list with 4 to 8 % of its children meals meeting expert nutrition standards.  It paled in comparison to Subway and even Red Lobster and IHOP.

Oh and btw - I just started a twitter feed so if you want to follow me there you can. I expect I will mostly tweet photos of volumetric meals and maybe an occasional research update, esp related to diet quality and public health policy.  @DeirdreDingman

Menu labeling proceeds without the FDA

    I have noticed that my blog gets the most views when I stick with calorie and menu labeling stories. (don't worry I only see the absolute number of viewers not WHO is viewing the blog.. that's not my department  ha ha)
   Good news.  Two more restaurants have decided to go ahead with menu labeling for all their stores, not just in states or cities where it is already the law.  I don't blame them. Even as the government drags it feet - new estimated date is 2014, the demand from customers is there.
    The two stores in the news are Taco Bell and Starbucks.  I just have a few comments and then I think you should click this link to a great USA Today interactive.  It lets you guess the calories in some of the 2 restaurants meals and beverages.
   My first comments are about Starbucks. The company has now decided to label the items in its pastry cases as well as the beverages.  They have been labeling the beverages for some time. After NYC passed a menu labeling in 2008, researchers conducted a study to compare the amount of calories purchased by Starbucks customers before and after the law and in locations without a law (like Boston at the time).  The law did seem to have the intended effect. The amount of calories purchased did go down after the menu labeling was introduced.  However, when the researchers looked more closely, they found that the customers were buying less food calories, not less beverage calories.  You will see in the USA Today 'game' that the beverages are a substantial source of the calories.
   Now about Taco Bell.  They are also going to post calories on their menus but with great fan fare.....also announced that they would include the amount of protein (in grams) each item contains. REALLY?  Because we don't get enough protein?  The only rationale I see for this is that they want to distract the customer from the fact that most of the items have ridiculous amounts of calories.
   Trust me - Americans as a group are not protein deficient.  What we don't get enough of is vitamins, nutrients, antioxidants and fiber from complex carbohydrates like those in whole grains, fruits and vegetables.  Do I think they should list the amount of carbs in an item - lord gosh NO... That is more confusing than the protein label. (sugar and starches are also carbs).  
   Best ideas for all of us is

•  choose the lower calorie option that has more vegetable than meat and cheese, 
• watch out for too much fat (which you will be doing if you choose the lower calories),
•  choose fruit over potatoes, etc.  
• And try not to drink your calories - unless its a (as in one) glass of beer or wine, maybe.

Here is the citation for the study I mentioned.
Bollinger, Bryan, Phillip Leslie, and Alan Sorensen. Calorie posting in chain restaurants. No. w15648. National Bureau of Economic Research, 2010.

And here is the link again if you waited.