Don't try this at home (Flicr photo by lintmachine)
As if those menu boards didn’t have enough on them to digest as you’re standing in line to order. The state health board this morning is voting on a measure that would require Massachusetts restaurants with 20 or more locations in the state to post nutritional details on display boards and menus.
Would you still buy that double quarter-pounder with cheese if 740 calories and 42 grams of fat were staring you down from the menu board? Tack on a soft drink, fries and ice cream sundae and call Jenny Craig. Your total intake: 1,880 calories and 77 grams of fat.
Of course, many of these chains have this information available now on the Web.
This new legislation, however, requires restaurants to place nutritional information in their establishments in a “clear” and “conspicuous” place. New York state is already doing this. Eagle-Tribune reporter Bill Kirk is working on local reaction and you can find his story tomorrow at eagletribune.com.
Would you chage your eating habbits based on having that nutritional information in your face? Is ignorance bliss when it comes to food?
UPDATE: Health board gives approval to new rules
Noah R. Bombard is the new media editor for The Eagle-Tribune in North Andover. He is a former award-winning newspaper and magazine editor who has been covering news in Massachusetts since 1997.