Page 256 - How to Be a Conscious Eater - Making Food Choices That Are Good for You

The quality of the snack or meal or beverage you’re pur-
chasing is ultimately the most important health consideration
related to calories—what it offers by way of nutrients, taste,
experience, happiness, provenance, production profile, and so
on, and what it costs, so to speak, in terms of any negative nutri-
tional or environmental impact. But the quantity still matters.
There are at least three other important reasons that calo-
rie labeling can be worthwhile:

TRANSPARENCY
If nothing else, think of calorie labeling as one window for
understanding the food you’re about to put into your body.
If you’re going to down a Starbucks Peppermint Mocha
Frappuccino at 450 calories, menu labeling allows you to con-
sume the calories (and gobs of sugar!) intentionally, rather
than finding out about the calories and sugar after the fact—or
not at all. And if by then you’re not feeling so great, labeling
can give you insight into why. Or if you’re like me and like to
play around with the Starbucks nutrition widget, you can see
that just skipping the whipped cream saves you more than
100 calories. I don’t even like whipped cream, so skipping it
actually improves my overall satisfaction with the drink. Or
maybe you’re craving a Caramel Macchiato but don’t really
need the grande. Opting for a tall saves at least 40 calories. It’s
your right to know what you’re putting in your body.

REFORMULATION
Guess what might be the best outcome of calorie labeling?
Options become healthier before they even hit the menu board.
Knowing that they have to divulge the calorie information can
motivate food providers to reformulate. Chain restaurants
that have had to comply with the regulation—from fast food to

Stuff that’s made in restaurant kitchens 245

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