Want to know how many calories are in that McDonald’s Big Mac or Starbuck’s Caramel Macchiato before ordering? Next time you’re standing in line at your favorite chain restaurant, use your cell phone to text “diet1” with the name of the restaurant and menu item. Within seconds, diet.com’s “Nutrition on the Go” service will send you a reply listing the calories, total fat, carbohydrate, and protein in the requested food. Then you can decide if your midday snack is worth the calories before chowing down!
This is actually a cool idea and something I think may catch on in the near future. With many chain restaurants like McDonald’s and Burger King reluctant to display nutritional information on their menu boards, it’s nice to see that consumers do have options. And this couldn’t come at a better time. A few weeks ago, the NY Daily News reported:
Think fast food joints will post calories on their menus next week? Fat chance.
The city Health Department Thursday delayed a plan that would require chains to post calorie counts on menu boards starting Monday.
The requirement was pushed back to April 15 to give courts time to decide whether the city law is legal. The New York State Restaurant Association has sued to block the plan.
Of course they sued to block the plan. They don’t want people to know what they’re really eating; although it’s not like it’s some secret that a Big Mac isn’t good for you. Shrugs.
Nevertheless, I think “Nutrition on the Go” is a pretty good idea. Although I have to say, my cell phone has a bit of a temper. Yesterday I tried to use it to get info on a meatball sub I wanted to order and it broke a beer bottle over its head and challenged me to a knife fight. It doesn’t like it when I cheat. Dude is crazy.
