Reader comments
Matheson introduces calorie-count bill

Hey Matheson,
Stay out of our lives. Let us choose what to eat.

Informing consumers about the nutrional content of what they're consuming is a good idea. I just don't understand why this has to be mandated from the Federal government. It sounds like a classic case of unnecssary government intrusion. Why not let the market decide? If one business decides to post nutrional content and consumers gravitate toward that business other businesses will follow suit. If consumers (who are also citizens and constituents) don't deem it important enough to patronize business that have chosen to post the nutrional standards than it shouldn't be mandated by the Federal government, either. Letting the market decide would actually be a more democratic way of implementing this. People vote with their dollars.

lookout!

Good idea...This should be a law already. If the body's a temple, we should know what we're putting in it.

If anyone cared about that, they wouldn't be eating out

What a wasted effort. We actually pay politicians do waste their time doing stuff like this? What's next, government cameras monitoring what we eat at home?

Our economy is going up in smoke and Matheson wants to start counting calories. Hey Jim! Why don't you start counting all the dollars you and your fellow demofats are burning through of late. That ought to keep you busy for a while. How does this guy keep getting elected?

Some chain food establishments already have a nutrition guide with calorie counts on-line, or in a notebook binder under the counter. These methods should be acceptable under Matheson's bill. The nutritional analysis would be too costly for small eatery management. It would inhibit menu creativity. A chef could not offer a new special, until the dish was analyzed for nutrition. A better approach would be to enhance public awareness of food nutrition through improved health curriculum in schools and through ad campaigns. Healthier menu items are often marked on some menus already.

I've taken the challenge to lose weight and i'm doing a pretty good job. However, twice in the last month i've been to two restruants who could not provide me nutritianal facts even though it is already required by law. Shame on Training Table and Olive Garden.

FAST FOOD ID FATTENING! There, have I saved us all a lot of legislative time and spending?

Who whats clutter on menu boards? People already know that fried food isn't good for you. Matheson is trying to take the attention off of his voting for the porkulus bill.

They told me if I voted for John McCain the government would try to control every aspect of my life.

And they were right!

He gets elected because these are the "BIG ISSUES" stands for-- and I don't mean "fat issues". When it comes to leadership, he follows the polls. We need a leader.

It's amazing how short sighted some people are. Making people aware of how awful the food they are eating will make some people think twice and if people are eating less crap, they'll be healthier, which in turn means lower insurance premiums, which means more money in our pockets. This is long term process which has many more benefits. And, there are better choices than others at fast food restaurants. Some people just aren't smart enough to figure out for themselves.

One of our biggest expenses is health care and one of Obama's major programs is health care for everyone and it doesn't take much to see why healthcare is a big issue based on the comments on this article. We don't care that we are eating burger with 1200 calories and supersizing our meals into obesity but want the government to somehow reduce health care expenses. Get real

If you think posting calorie counts on menus will lower health ins. premiums, I have a bridge I'd like to sell you.

I can't believe Matheson is drinking the Nany-state Kool Aid. I thought he was better than that... We don't need him or his stupid regulations to govern our lives. Stay the heck out of what we eat... I'll eat a Krispy Kreme donut if I darn well please. And I don't need Matheson or Federal government to overregulate every aspect of our lives!!! With the economy in shatters, Trillions in debt, and this is what Matheson spends his time on? Pathetic.

I think that requiring chain restaurants to provide nutritional information at the restaurant location is a reasonable request. Sometimes when it's not readily available I do go home and check online afterward, but I think that I would make wiser item selections if I knew at the time of ordering. This shouldn't really affect chefs or specials because chain restaurants don't really do these and small restaurants are exempt from the proposed law.

However I do also agree with the Arctic Circle president, I don't think that the menu board is the place for it (especially if they require the fonts of calories to be as large as the prices like New York City does), that can get too cluttery and confusing. But still somewhere fairly obvious where people can look if they want to know, like a poster on a wall.

This legislation is definitely not going to make fat people skinny, but it might help people who are trying to cut down on their weight make more informed choices.

When I cook at home, I make healthy meals. When I go out to eat, I often select something that is not so healthy as a treat. I don't need nanny state fingerwaving to manage my eating choices.
I would rather die at 85 having eaten things I like than live to be a tottering 105 in some rest home as "reward" for a life of taste-free deprivation.

A person can find calorie information on basically any restaurant foods online if they are willing to look. And people who don't care how fattening their food is will continue to "not care" even if it is posted. So the population that would be served by posting calorie information are the people who only "kind of" care about the calories but who didn't care enough to get calorie information online (or through other methods). This seems like a narrow group of folks.

If you care about your intake, you are allready going to know that turkey is a better choice than a steak; that baked is better than fried; that dressing on the side is better than pre-dressed; that one meat patty is better than two; and that exercising is a must regardless of what you are eating!!

That being said, I look around me and see so many overweight people (and kids!!) that it is frankly quite depressing. Something needs to be done, and national education MIGHT be helpful....only if it leads to individual action....and not just individual guilt.