(x-posted from All Voices)

Yesterday, while waiting in line at Starbucks in New York City and perusing the refrigerated food case (mmm…pre-portioned cheese plates), I noticed something was different. It took a second for me to put my finger on it – like realizing that a friend got a haircut or is wearing glasses. But then it was all I could see: calories! Next to each cranberry scone and piece of chocolate-drizzled coffee cake was a small plaque bearing the name of the treat and the number of calories it contained.

As of March 31, all chain restaurants in New York City (restaurants with 15 or more outlets – Mc Donalds, The Olive Garden, TGI Fridays, and the like) were required to start posting calorie counts for all menu items in the hopes of enabling consumers to make informed (and ideally healthier) decisions. CNN reported in January:

“The Department of Health argued in October that “calorie information provided at the time of food selection [will] enable New Yorkers to make more informed, healthier choices.”"

Although a Starbucks or Mc Donald’s exec would likely deny their food plays a key part in America’s obesity problem, there’s not much left to say once their menu items’ offensive calorie counts are all but circled in red pen. Perhaps that’s why, as City Health Commissioner Thomas R. Frieden,” put it to the AP, “Some chains have worked hard to deny customers information they need to make healthy food choices.” The New York Restaurant Association, New York’s largest restaurant industry group, even brought a lawsuit against the New York Board of Health, claiming the ruling to post calorie counts violates first Amendment rights. As of now, The AP reported, restaurants are not being fined for non-compliance, but rulings on enforcement are scheduled for the summer.

It’s easy to understand why the chains would be upset about being forced to air their dirty laundry – but what about customers’ point of view? Posting the calories next to each Starbucks snack certainly achieved its intended impact me by giving me just enough of a reality jolt to quiet my impulse-buy cravings. I wanted that cookie, but did I really want that 400 calorie cookie? (The fact that it was a few days after Pesach, aka Leah’s “eat nothing week” did nothing to quell the immediate grossness of the calories at hand.)

The posted calories also made my food decision feel incredibly (and intimidatingly) public. There’s no question that my peers have some influence on the food I choose to eat (e.g. I may down half a bag of Tings in the privacy of my own room, but I’m not about to be the only person going back for thirds when everyone else has pushed away their plates). Suddenly, I felt like everyone behind me in line was a potential reality TV-style judge to my decision. “Oooh, she went for the crumb cake! That’ll cost her.”

In the end, I think labeling foods by their calorie counts is a form reverse nutritionism. It’s not that I was surprised to see that a Starbucks chocolate chip cookie bar was calorie-rich, but all of a sudden I felt like I was consuming units of energy instead of food!

I completely appreciate the motives behind the calorie ruling – if it helps make chronic fast food eaters rethink their second box of curly fries, then great. On the other hand, for those of us who enjoy the occasional Frappucino (no, once a day does not count as occasional), having calories stare you in the face while you eat is just a big, fat bummer.