Online trade news source Nation’s Restaurant News reports that a whopping 74 percent of American adults want laws compelling restaurants to post a nutritional analysis of every item listed on their menus or menu boards.
The survey, released this week by Technomic Inc., seems a little fishy. First of all, how does one create a complete nutritional analysis of every food and beverage offered without creating 15-page menus with all the graphic appeal of a Bulgarian phone book? Do 74 percent of all adults really want that? Secondly, who or what exactly is Technomic Inc.?
OK—a bit of Googling reveals that it seems to be a perfectly legit food-industry research firm with 40 years of experience. But still, the 74 percent figure may reveal a lot of internal disagreement and shades of gray when it gets run through the wringer of practical application in the real world. Not to mention lawsuits, of course: A New York City menu labeling law is already under legal fire from the New York State Restaurant Association.
Yeah, but this is just a bad survey question. If you asked me that I would probably answer “yes’. If you followed up by asking me if I’d want to try to order off of a menu that had nutritional info beside every single entry I’d probably concede the idea was ridiculous. I wouldn’t mind having a handout like McDonalds has that I could ask for with my menu (and I think if you’re going to have labeled packaging like them putting nutritional info on it is not a bad idea).