Regulating Fast Food Businesses...an article from 2009

An article I wrote in 2009 in response to another article that I read on this topic around this time period. This was written as a performance only article, non-exclusive. http://voices.yahoo.com/regulating-fast-food-businesses-3623039.html?cat=51 Regulating Fast Food Businesses Should chain restaurants in Connecticut be required to include calories on menu? This is the question that is being asked. You may not personally have any real concern whether or not Connecticut or any other state passes laws requiring chain restaurants to list the calories on their menu's. Especially if you don't visit chain restaurants or have a weight problem. You may not really see any point at all of a restaurant being asked to include the calories for each item on their menu. But on the other hand you may live in Connecticut or another state that has not passed any requirements that menu's list calorie count with various items. You may also be struggling to make sure you do not go over a particular number of calories each day. To you having the number of calories listed on the menu you help you to stay within your daily calorie requirements to succeed with a weight loss program. Or to stay within your daily calorie needs to maintain your weight. For someone who counts calories to maintain or reach particular weight goals this would be very helpful. Also something else to thing about, if you were being very careful to stay within a particular calorie range, and knew that a particular restaurant had a menu with the calories listed for each item, or at least had a print out that listed the calories for each item, would you not be more likely to want to visit that chain again? And refer others to that restaurant. Due to the fact this restaurant was offering something to their customers that other places may not offer. A restaurant whether it is a large chain or a small mom and pop type restaurant is a service type business. As a service type business quality service that goes over and beyond what other restaurants offer can mean an increase in business. Because people will recommend businesses that go over and beyond what is expected. Besides the fact that a menu that list the calories and items most likely to cause allergic reactions this may prevent lawsuits like the one where a family sued McDonald's because they became overweight by eating their foods. Now granted no one twisted their arm and made them buy and eat this food. But if the restaurant had the calories listed for each item on their menu, they the manager of the restaurant could clearly point at the listed calories, and say that the calories were listed. It is the responsibility of the individual to watch what they eat, and it is helpful for an individual to have easy access to the calorie count of the foods that they are consuming. Listing the calorie count on menu's would be a benefit to both consumers and businesses that cater to those who choose to eat out. And maybe requiring the calorie count on menu's would prevent the court system being taken up with lawsuits that are in my opinion frizoulous and a waste of time. This would just be a way in my opinion to decrease the chance that a restaurant would be taken to court just because someone felt that they were not consuming too many calories based on how the food looked or tasted.