The Need to Dumb Down Fast Food Menus

In a continuing effort to demonize the fast food industry, a new study tries to make the point that even if such restaurants obey the law, they still can do more to get people not to eat the food they sell.  That makes about as much sense as a square bowling ball.  My comments are in italics.

Although Fast-Food Menu Calorie Counts Are Legally Compliant, They Are Not As Helpful To Consumers As They Should Be

(Sarcasm Alert!) That’s right.  I guess these restaurants should also offer free flu vaccinations and childcare to all those who purchase from their low-cost menu. 

Calorie listings on fast-food chain restaurant menus might meet federal labeling requirements but don't do a good job of helping consumers trying to make healthy meal choices, a new Columbia University School of Nursing (CUSON) study reports.

Huh? The purpose of a fast food menu is to get you to make healthy meal choices?  If you want to eat healthily, what are you doing in a fast food restaurant?

The study, by Elizabeth Gross Cohn, RN, NP, DNSc, assistant professor of nursing at CUSON, and colleagues, was published online in the Journal of Urban Health.  The researchers studied the calorie counts for 200 food items on menu boards in fast-food chain restaurants in the New York inner-city neighborhood of Harlem. Since 2006, the City has had a standard menu labeling law that includes some, though not all, of the new federal requirements.

Who knew that Harlem was a fair representation of all those who eat fast food?  This study will be quite valuable to all everyone living in rural America.

"Although most postings were legally compliant, they did not demonstrate utility," the authors say. "Menu postings for individual servings are easily understood, but complex math skills are needed to interpret meals designed to serve more than one person.  In some items, calories doubled depending on flavor, and the calorie posting did not give enough information to make healthier selections."

If your math skills are so poor you can’t double a number, you’ve got more problems than eating fast food.  What do these people want?  Something on the menu that states “If you’re a poster child for obesity don't order from our Big-fat Slob menu and get something healthy to eat for once.”

To collect the data, volunteers equipped with digital cameras worked in pairs and canvassed each designated area block by block to identify national restaurant outlets. A total of 70 menus and menu boards from 12 restaurant chains were photographed, and 200 food items rated.

So, whoever funded this study paid for these people to eat out every day for quite a while?  I think I’m going to study the effects of drinking beer and watching sports.  Who wants to fund me?

The researchers found that, while most restaurants studied have posted calorie counts, in the majority of cases there was insufficient information to make use of them at the point of purchase.

What do these people want?  Should menus come equipped with calculators?  What would be sufficient information?  Have on each of the menus “Eat this and die.  Enjoy your meal!”

Specialty pizzas were offered in wide ranges without a clear explanation as to how they differed since the calorie count was based on a standard size and standard set of toppings.

Who cares?  You want a specialty pizza you’re going to eat a specialty pizza.  After putting on my sunglasses lest I be blinded by their brilliance, I would like to explain to Elizabeth Gross Cohn, RN, NP, DNSc, assistant professor of nursing at CUSON, and colleagues that when you order a specialty pizza, you want to eat it and do not want to do a calorie calculation.  Do they think this motivates people to brag to fellow restaurant patrons about how they felt so informed when ordering their food!

"As further legislation is developed, we support the FDA in their commitment to having menu boards that are useful at all levels of literacy."

They’re crazy.  I don’t want the government involved with controlling menus.  Why should we make menus complex because stupid people spend too much time eating at fast food restaurants?  What do stupid people want?  They already control politics and big business. 

"In low-income communities with a high density of chain restaurants, and where educational attainment of consumers may be low, simplifying calorie postings and minimizing the math required to calculate calories would increase menu board utility.”

If the people in these communities are so intellectually challenged forget writing a menu.  Just use pictures that show happy faces and sad faces next to each menu item so they eat what the FDA and the people of this study think are proper.  The government has dumbed down our education system and now they want to do the same thing to our restaurant menus? When will it ever end?

Here is a link to the story

https://www.cuimc.columbia.edu/news/fast-food-menu-calorie-counts-legally-compliant-not-helpful-consumers-they-should-be

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