Calorie-induced sticker shock

A few months ago while writing at Starbucks (sigh...), the baristas whipped up a treat - dixie cups full of this uber-rich, crack-like drink called a Java Chip Frappucino. This stuff was heaven - like an orgasm for your mouth (but not in the gross way I now realize that sounds.) Creamy, milky, chocolatey, smooth but simultaneously crunchy from the chips. And since they samples were little, it was basically calorie- and fat-free! Right? I mean, I had four of them, but still.

So wooed was I by this frappufrenzy that I hopped over to Starbucks' nutritional data page to check out my new favie drink.

Bad move. Bad, bad move. At 460 calories and almost 20 grams of fat (mostly saturated), downing a Grande was like eating a Snickers bar plus a 3 Musketeers.

Or was it a good move? After all, I was now armed with enough info to prevent myself from falling victim to the nutritional bomb that is the Java Chip Frappucino.

Well, now New Yorkers don't have a choice in the matter - starting this Spring, NYC became the first city in the country to start implementing a law forcing chains like Starbucks and TGIFridays to post the calorie count of every item...in the same size and font as the price - no min-italics here.

I'd heard about this law but it fell off my radar until WG reader Elle emailed me a link to this MSNBC story.I love the quote in the story, from 45-year-old construction company owner named Juan Restrepo who had just learned his beloved Dunkin’ Donuts corn muffin was packed with 510 calories and claimed he would be quitting them for good.

“My daughter warned me about them,” he said. “I just didn’t listen.”

Oh, Juan. ALWAYS listen to your daughter! Haven't you learned by now?

Not all muffins will be this honest with you.

This reminds me of a story I'm working on for Women's Health on fast casual food (Panera, Cosi, Fazoli's, etc). All of these places sent me nutritional breakdowns of their foods and I remember Dan flipping through Panera's info and actually shrieking in horror when he read that his fave turkey sandwich had more cholesterol than steak al forno! (They sneak it in all stealth-like through mayo or pesto spreads.) He has since adjusted his orders accordingly.

Anyone out there live in NY and wanna tell us what it's like to walk into Starbucks and see "600 calories" splashed across the scone display? Would you all want this kind of information or is ignorance bliss and you just want to be left alone with your bagel and cream cheese without horrifying calorie info being shoved down your throat? Do you ever go to the nutritional websites of restaurants and look up different items? Or is peering into the Subway glass at the "Six under six" sign the farthest you want to go?

Eat up!
xoxox,
Leslie

Comments

I live in NYC and I would love to comment!

I am actually really glad that NYC is doing this - not so much because I need to be told the calorie content of what I'm ordering (although I always want to know -I'm a weirdo- I will look up the cals of a tall soy chai latte before I head over to the 'Bucks to get one) but because I know that most people JUST DON'T KNOW how many calories they're eating at these places.

My very first episode of "sticker shock" came last summer when I ate at Chipotle one evening and figured a veggie burrito would be the best thing to order. Afterwards I went home and looked up the nutrition info - almost 1000 calories!! That's 1/2 of what I should eat for a whole day! Just the burrito--not including the soda or tortilla chips!!

And people just don't know what they're eating and that week after week and day after day, it's all adding up. Our 'ignorance is bliss' additude about nutrition is a big part of the obesity epidemic. Knowledge is power.

Bring that law on over to Toronto!!! I would LOVE to know what I am getting myself into when I go out. I was overjoyed when the Pickel Barrel started publishing data on their menus for the healthy stuff. I know when I make something at home that I control the volume of "bad" in it, but when I am out, something similar could be chockablock with creamy buttery goodness or the "wrong" kind of oil, thereby destroying my cholesterol levels and making my doctor make that face at me at my yearly physical!

Mmmmmm ... butter :)

I'm glad NY is doing it as well, and I miss it when I go back home and I don't have this info at my finger tips. I am, however, also a bit obsessed so it might not be the best thing for me, but I do love it. I am also guilty of going online and checking out the nutritional info at different chain restaurants to see what I "should" order. I wish every food establishment had the nutritional info available.

i'd like places to do that in general since i'm occasionally skeptical of the actual caloric counts in menus. take chili's guiltless grill, for example ... it says that x dinner is y amount of calories ... but often times to me, it seems like only the main dish of x dinner should be y amount of calories given what else i know about said dish ...

there was a reason i quit eating out during my calorie (and carb and protein and fat) counting days. no longer, though ...

I would LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it if we had the law in Philly. This morning I stopped by the bucks for a Vivanno (BANANA CHOCOLATE LOVE!) and was drooling over the cakes. I resisted by merely guessing at the nutrition (or lack thereof) info but then was sadly confronted by a pile of bagels and cream cheese at the office. *sigh* a girl is only so strong.

I LOVE that NYC is doing that. Wish Winnipeg would too.

And I just last week (or was it the week before last?) I contacted a whole bunch of restaurants and requested nutrition info because I wanted to do a sort of makeshift study on them.

One place responded to me, and they claimed that they were unable to give me the info even after I sent a few more pressing emails. The others didn't even take the time to respond. Grr. I'm going to have to start marching into these places and taking charge!

Each fall, I looked forward to the pumpkin muffin's return to Dunkin Donuts -- until I found out last year that it contains more than 700 calories.

Now I make my own healthy pumpkin bread at home.

Ignorance may be bliss, but it sure explains weight gain.

Oooh, to be honest I don't like it, at all.

I think that of course nutritional information should be freely and readily available, but I see no need in ramming it into the customer's consciousness.

Anyone who is trying to eat intuitively, or recovering from disordered eating is not necessarily going to to be benefited from having no choice but to know the nutritional content of what they're ordering.

I think having the information be readily available online and perhaps via leaflets instore or the like does the same job, but it leaves people with a choice.

I just have to add that I was talking with a barista from 'bux today and he told me that "if you squeeze our blueberry oat pastry, oild will actually drip out of it." Ew!

Care, what an interesting and valid point - I know all too well how this would drive someone with a past ED bonkers. The idea of having pamphlets nearby does strike a nice balance...but I feel like our population in general is so clueless about nutrition that they need to have the facts screamed in their face. But I hear you.

Gayle, how is the Vivanno? Does it taste like a nasty banans Runt? Or a yummy choco-dipped nanner?

Some days I would love it, some days I wouldn't... A couple of weeks ago I indulged in a favorite sandwich from Panera, only to return to my computer and discover it had 900 calories!

It seems like a good thing to me. It might help people realize that some menu items are treats, not everyday foods.

my husbands head very nearly fell off (and this is a man who cares NOT about calories) when he accidentally found out what his fave peanut butter moo'd Jamba contained (that might be the wrong name...peanut butter somethin somethin).

enough carbs/fat for a few days.

he still eats it (which I love!) but at least he's an informed consumer :)

I hate it.
Well, actually, my healthy self hates it. The quirky and annoying parts left over from 20 years of an eating disorder LOVE it.
I think that as opposed to looking at calories, the only way to solve the "obesity crisis" (which btw, according to statistics doesnt actually EXIST in NYC... but rather is harshly pummled by the amount of anorexia and bulimia) is to reeducate society as to HOW to LISTEN to their bodies and bring the heart and soul back into food. I was once 400 lbs, I was also anorexic. Knowing the calorie counts has NEVER helped me become healthy in any sense of the matter.

I wish it was here! But I'm enough of a weirdo that I usually look up restaurant information before I go there and already have my order picked out in my head.

I do like that Starbucks has the pamphlets with information, and wish other places would follow suit outside of NYC.

And the Vivanno - not so hot. Way too banana heavy and just, strange. I'll stick with my local smoothie place (haven't tried the banana chocolate one yet).

(Thanks for stopping by my place, I'll be checking back here frequently, you are too funny!)

I wish more places had NI available, but I did see a Fox News report recently that said no matter what the restaurant says it's serving, they LIE. They did testing on a bunch of different food and found that very little of it actually followed the NI published for it.

I know when Ruby Tuesdays in our area put their NI on their menu, I stopped eating there for a while. not because I was eating better, but because honestly, I didn't want to know. It was just too horrific. I still have that problem sometimes, going "Jeez, I need to become a breathairian... everything is bad for me. EVERY. THING."

I had a similar thing happen to me at starbucks. I was eyeing their no sugar added banana coffee cake or bread or something. The barista was a sweetheart/cake-pusher who brought a slice out for me to try.

Having just completed my long run and reintroduced sugar into my diet, I ate the 'whole' slice! I didn't think too much of it till I got home and looked it up on their site. That slice (approx 5 oz) was 400 cals and some ridiculous amounts of sat. fat. I couldn't believe it. If the information had been posted, I would have thought twice about eating more than a couple of bites.

Honestly, I don't trust anything in chains anymore, esp. if it's sitting in a case. Something as to keep it from drying out, if not added fats, then perhaps chemicals. I'm not saying I won't eat it, but atleast if the nutritional information was posted, I could go into the meal knowing what I'm doing and be held accountable for it.

I think the middle ground of pamphlets is the best way. Cara brings up a good point about there being a portion of the population who could be harmed in some way from facing that.

Also, I think of my husband in this situation. He has no idea what 600 calories means in the grand scheme of things. So a lot of the population that is clueless of the NI of what they are eating are also likely to not understand the context even if they were to have it on them. So what effect will it have on them?

Slacker Mama, I agree with you 100%!!!! The pamphlets are a perfect compromise. I'm also someone with an ED in my past, and having calorie counts shoved in my face makes me a little nuts.
I have nightmare visions of rail-thin girls coming into 'Bucks and trying to outdo each other on how few calories they consume. Or the opposite, having a group binge and purge, purposely ordering the most "fattening" things on the menu.
Finally, I think if places post info, it could be geared more toward ingredient/allergen info. If someone has diabetes, celiac, or any other condition that prevents them from eating or drinking certain things, they obviously need to know if a product contains them.

I was in Starbucks today in NYC and noticed that the tiny little sub-100 calorie cookies were practically gone and the muffins seemed untouched. Seems like New Yorkers are getting the hint! :-)

Great post and so real! They need to do that in every city. That's why I can't stand going to Starbucks. Not even the calories are what shock me, but the sugar content. It's horrible. Thanks for sharing this.

Best,

Lauren

TO be honest, i dont like this at all. Sure, i mean, i dont go into starbucks thinking those scones are good for me, and sometimes, i just need to hang loose and indulge, reminding me that they are X amount of calories will just make me feel guilty and unworthy. But this is just me. i mean, i did study nutrition in college and i perhaps the general public really does think at "low fat scone" is figure friendly. I can't imagine going to a fine dining establishment and have a stick on a menu of foie gras and lobster bisques.

As a 'recovering' anorexic, this law is both good and bad. I live about 60 miles north of NYC, so I don't face this everyday but I do visit oftenish. Like, I went to see a Mets game and it was time for dinner. I basically had a panic attack in the stadium. But, it is in a way helpful because I have this (disordered) idea that restaurant food has this incomprehensibly amount of calories. But yeah I still freak out and take forever to order something etc.

I would love to be informed - it would definitely have a positive effect on my diet. I remember looking up the calorie info on my fave salad at Panera and let's just say I haven't been back.

Boo. I don't like this at all. I try to make healthy choices most of the time, but when I want to indulge in the occasional treat, I'd rather just enjoy it without the guilt of knowing the calories, etc. Plus, like others have said, I try to avoid this information anyway because of my ED craziness. I've made a lot of progress and actually enjoy food now. I sure as hell don't want to end up back where I started in a nutrional info overload.

I'm with some of the other people who mentioned some kind of pamphlet by where you order or by the door or something. Ironically enough I was just thinking about this this morning, and I don't think that the people who are overweight or whatever are usually the people who are paying attention -- it's the obsessive ED people (like me!) who pay too much attention and then go the wrong way with it. So I think it should definitely be available in the store, but I think that the people who are most likely to be paying attention are the people who don't "need" to worry about it.

I think it was interesting in the article that food places were saying they were running out of their lowest cal. entrees and items first. I think people might freak out at first at how much a meal has but I think it also has to do with portion size. Usually the meals are big enough to have leftovers so if you're having dinner and eat half or even 3/4s of your meal thats ~1000 cal. that's not bad for a big meal of the day. I agree this could be iffy as to how it will affect eating disorders and dieting.

I have to agree with pamphlets as well. I struggle with bulimia and having the nutrition facts right in front of me, I think, would make it more likely that I would have a relapse. I try to eat healthy, but now and then a treat for the sake of a treat is a must. I don't need to be beating myself up over it more than I already do.
I like the pamphlets; then if I want to know and want to pick out something healthier to order, I can.
While I want the restaurants to offer NI, I think consumers should be responsible for finding out what they are eating.

THis is really screwing with my "Denial Diet."
But still Vodka 0 cals/carbs... it's what's for dinner.

As somebody in recovery, I also have similarly mixed feelings about this.

HOWEVER it does make me wonder whether it will make big chains look at those unnecessary additionals (like the mayo and pesto on an otherwise healthy sandwich) and use lower-fat versions instead to encourage customers to buy their products. If these companies see that tasty, lower calorie items sell much better when customers become more aware of what they're eating, then we may see an improvement in the fat and calorie levels in restaurant food overall, which would be fantastic, no?

TA x

Interesting... I hadn't really considered the ED implications of this until I read the comments. Overall, I'd have to say that I think being an informed consumer is a good thing. If you bought a muffin in a store, the nutrition info would be available to you so it's not that much of a leap (for me--others can and do feel differently) to extend that to restaurants. And honestly--I'd really like to know! I wish DC would get on board...

I don't think I would like the calories that big as I know when something has a lot of calories and I don't care as I am eating it for a treat...

I do check up on a lot of things online or a check the nutrtional information, but most of us honestly know about the hidden calories :)

I'm waiting for the day when we have a healthy drive-through chain of restaurants. Something with fresh, natural food, with vegetarian, vegan, and raw options, plus meat and fish. A place you can either sit down or just zip through in your car (if the kids are coming along) or bike. No one would have to worry about the nutritionals (although they would be available) because everything on the menu would be healthy and yummy. If I had any culinary or entreprenurial (sp?) skills I'd do it myself but, well, I'm sorely lacking, lol!

I can't comment on the ED side, unless you consider compulsive overeating as a disorder...and I've seen a lot of people state that's it the other side of the same coin. But I'm definitely no expert.

What I do know is that it's absolutely essential for restaurants to make this information available to consumers. I don't think it has to be in huge print where you can't escape it.

It is definitely the responsibility of the consumer to find out what they're eating. The problem is that too much of the time, the information is simply not available, even on a restaurant's website. We must rely on websites like calorieking and similar ventures that are inconsistent. How do you know which one is right?

At the very least, we need pamphlets and mandatory nutrition info on websites. We need access to the tools necessary to BECOME informed consumers. Because while some "bad" choices are obvious, others aren't. A case in point is most restaurant salads - you'd be shocked at some of the nutrition info on those.

V.

Leslie, your next article should be pushing to inform consumers how many calories they should be consuming a day. Most don't have a clue. "oh, 500 calories for a muffin? that's nice." BUT they don't realize how many calories per day they should be eating. More education on this is definitely needed. Good article! Thanks!