Students soon may be able to view how many calories are in a roast beef po-boy at the Chimes or how many grams of fat are in hash browns at Louie’s Cafe.
As part of the Food and Drug Administration’s fight against the nation’s obesity problem, there could be a requirement for restaurants to provide nutritional information as well as specify how many calories are in each item on their menus.
Julie Hupperich, LSU Health Center associate director, said the requirement to provide nutritional information in restaurants would be positive for a society that now is dining out more than ever.
“Any time consumers have access to information that will help them make an informed decision is positive,” Hupperich said.
Erica Martin, a chemical engineering freshman, said she follows the advice of Hupperich and reads nutritional facts on most food and beverage items she consumes.
“I just want to make sure I am eating right,” Martin said.
Martin said she would be happy if restaurants would provide nutritional facts.
“The world is changing to where everyone is now worried with healthy foods and diets,” Martin said.
Martin said the information she finds on a menu may change her mind when it comes time to order her next meal.
“I might choose one item over another just because it has fewer calories,” Martin said.
Local restaurants have mixed feelings about the possibility of providing nutritional facts.
Superior Grill manager Steven Fontenot said he understands that people would like to view the caloric information in their food. But he said for a restaurant like his, that information could be hard to obtain.
“Everything we make is from scratch, so it would be hard to determine how many calories are in each item,” Fontenot said.
Fontenot said unlike fast-food restaurants, Superior Grill’s food does not come prepared in serve-able sizes and portions, thus determining nutritional facts could be difficult.
Chimes general manager Doug Felton said he never has encountered a customer who wanted nutritional facts, but if the requirement is approved by the FDA then it would be no problem.
“It is not hard to figure out the information because we know everything that goes into our food,” Felton said.
The FDA will discuss several ideas to fight the nation’s obesity problem and will release its plan by February.