IMG_5693

The menus at the spa cafe at the Venetian have calorie/protein/fat counts for each menu item.

How can we encourage other restaurants to also do this?

Labeling and transparency is one way to apply incentive pressure to food producers and consumers alike to improve the quality of their food production/consumption.

To take full advantage of Flickr, you should use a JavaScript-enabled browser and
install the latest version of the Macromedia Flash Player.

Comments

jasonEscapist says:

I love it.

I would absolutely use this type of information in my fight against being a fat asshole.
Posted 32 months ago. ( permalink )

Todd Huffman says:

How can you get other places to do it? Pick out several of your favourite restaurants, write them letters about how you want it. Promise if they do it, you'll double your visits to their establishment. Perhaps include a photocopy of how these people do it, I like the nice low key style.
Posted 32 months ago. ( permalink )

jdaly says:

Never mind the information disclosure. Where's my thai-style french toast?
Posted 32 months ago. ( permalink )

Kazanjy says:

Good question Tantek. If people asked for it, it would be helpful, but i don't think that model scales.

If you could make it revenue positive for them, by directing users towards restaurants who DO do this, well, then they might have a better incentive.

Menupedia.com wiki that allows restaurants to post up their menus and their caloric content, but which is genre and zip-code searchable, such that users can use it as a resource when searching out where to eat.

Yelp could offer this feature, even.
Posted 32 months ago. ( permalink )

'ju:femaiz says:

I can see a law suit over incorrect figures mounting though...

--
Seen in my contacts' photos. (?)
Posted 32 months ago. ( permalink )

tantek says:

@ju- calorie/protein/fat (and more) count labeling is already a requirement on zillions of prepackaged foods sold in supermarkets, so thus I don't think there is significant risk of what you speak.
Posted 32 months ago. ( permalink )

'ju:femaiz says:

True that - however prepackaged foods occur in a far more controlled environment to a restaurants kitchen. There is far less automation in kitchens than occurs in the production facilities that you refer to. I'd be very concerned about a liability suit from incorrect labelling where it is not mandated with significant liability underwriting from the government to take into account the differences between the prepackaging environment and a restaurant's kitchen.

--
Seen in my recent comments. (?)
Posted 32 months ago. ( permalink )

tantek says:

The "controlled environment" and "less automation" aspects are actually irrelevant.

What is relevant is how consistent is the end product produced by kitchens.

In my experience at restaurants (at least here in San Francisco), the vast majority of the time (like nearly always), order the same thing will give you nearly exactly the same meal.

The only common variances I have found are due to "fresh fruit" (often seasonal and thus variant), pieces of fish (different shape, some (maybe 5-10%) mass variance), pieces of toast (sometimes you get the ends of the loaf). For items with known variance, the menu could indicate a range to allow people to hi/lo budget accordingly.

I claim your being "very concerned about a liability suit" in this context is chicken-littling and unnecessary FUD.

Unless you are a lawyer of course, in which case I grant your arguments and ask the following.

How can we get the government(s) to undrerwrite liability for restaurant menu labeling? The (US at least) government subsidizes corn, and thus effectively creates a market for corn syrup that wouldn't otherwise exist, which then ends up in so many of our foods and drinks and has been fattening US consumers and increasing their risk of diabetes since the 1980s when the mass incorporation of corn syrup began.

How do we get the US government to subsidize health instead of subsidizing illness?
Posted 32 months ago. ( permalink )

tantek says:

Chipotle has a calorie calculator as well (thanks Ariel) - I've added it to my BodyOptimizationTechniques wiki page.

See BodyOptimization wiki page for more info and additional context.
Posted 31 months ago. ( permalink )

tantek says:

Chili's' Guiltless Grill section has calories etc. counts as well.
Posted 29 months ago. ( permalink )

menulabeling says:

Hi Tantek,
I just saw this great picture, and your question about how to get more restaurants to put nutrition info right on the menu where you can see it. There's actually a national movement right now to get fast food and chain restaurants to label their menus and menu boards. You can learn about how to get more involved here:
www.menulabeling.org

I also just started a Flickr account and uploaded pictures of some crazy calorie counts on labeled menus in NYC! Check it out.
Posted 10 months ago. ( permalink )

Would you like to comment?

[?]

	tantek's photostream
		20,522 uploads

1 person calls this photo a favorite

Additional Information

Some rights reserved Anyone can see this photo

Taken at Mix07.

Taken with a Canon PowerShot SD400.
More properties
Taken on May 1, 2007
Viewed 217 times

Add to your map

Yay location removed

...

(Some formats are OK.)

Or, remove it from the map.

Go to the map

You	Sign in \| Create Your Free Account
Explore	Places \| Last 7 Days \| This Month \| Popular Tags \| The Commons \| Creative Commons \| Search
Help	Community Guidelines \| The Help Forum \| FAQ \| Sitemap \| Get Help

IMG_5693

Comments

jasonEscapist says:

Todd Huffman says:

jdaly says:

Kazanjy says:

'ju:femaiz says:

tantek says:

'ju:femaiz says:

tantek says:

tantek says:

tantek says:

menulabeling says:

Would you like to comment?

tantek's photostream

Tags

Additional Information