Here's a quick quiz for you. At a popular doughnut shop in Connecticut, you must choose the item with the least number of calories among these four choices: a sesame bagel with cream cheese, two jelly filled doughnuts, a banana walnut muffin, and a 24 oz. strawberry banana smoothie.

Surprisingly, perhaps shockingly, the two jelly doughnuts win at 420 calories. The other three each contain more than 540 calories. It appears our gut instincts in calorie counting are suspect. In fact, a poll commissioned by End Hunger Connecticut, a group that deals with nutrition and hunger issues, shows most of those surveyed came up with the wrong answers in similar multiple-choice fast food examples.

End Hunger Connecticut and the President Pro Tempore of the State Senate, Sen. Donald Williams (D-Brooklyn) are promoting legislation to deal with this dilemma. The bill would require major chain restaurants in Connecticut to post the calorie count of each standard menu item next to the item's listing on printed menus or signboards at the food outlets.
 

"We're not trying to be the Twinkie police, we're not saying you can't eat any of these (high calorie) things," said End Hunger Connecticut director Lucy Nolan. "What it's about is giving people informed intelligent choices so they can take personal responsibility for what's going into their mouths."

Williams claims "supersizing" calorie info in plain sight on fast food menus and signboards is a simple non-threatening way of helping people better understand their nutritional options. "Eating a jelly doughnut isn't necessarily healthier but we should have information to compare calories to other choices."

State Sen. Toni Harp (D-New Haven) backs the bill and candidly revealed that her own lack of knowledge about the calorie content of fast food items pulled her into a battle with weight gain. "I want to tell you how I got fat," said Harp. She explained her favorite fast food meal used to be a hefty burger with fries, a soda, and a shake. "That was probably two days worth of food!", she exclaimed. "We think our bill will help shed some light( on the calorie issue)," Harp said.

Williams contends major fast food restaurant chains already have the calorie data figured out and it is often available on their websites, so placing it in plain view on menus and signboards at their stores should not be a Herculean task. He said providing the calorie info might actually encourage some chains to "reformulate" their menus so the items "are still good and tasty but a little healthier for people."

However, the fast food industry currently opposes the calorie information bill. Timothy Phelan, a lobbyist for the Connecticut Retail Merchants Association, represents many of the chains, and worries the bill could trigger cost and logistics problems. Phelan said the bill poses many questions: If a fast food outlet wants to tell a customer to "have it your way" when ordering a big burger, does the restaurant need to post the calorie count for every combination possible? If a restaurant must post calorie counts on the outdoor drive-thru menu and that means building a bigger signboard, will the outlet face a zoning issue?

Asked if the industry wants to zap the calorie bill, Phelan noted: "I'm not going to say I'd like to kill the president of the Senate's bill. We just oppose the bill as drafted." Phelan said the industry will talk with supporters of the legislation to see if a reasonable compromise can be worked out before it is voted on.

Meanwhile, if you would like to test your own ability to judge the calorie content of favorite fast food items from bagels to burgers, go to the End Hunger Connecticut website (www.endhungerct.org) and take a tasty quiz.

Posted 5/2/07

Comments or questions?  Contact us at  CTReport@crnradio.com

© Connecticut Radio Network