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Caveat Emptor – Let The Buyer Beware. A few short years ago there were a number of laws published to assist consumers in selecting menu items with full disclosure on calorie counts. Yet, despite those laws the challenge for diners has never been greater.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) published a list recently that highlighted the need for more reform and consumer awareness. Laws that required US based eateries to list the calorie count of menu items have not stopped them from promoting unhealthy meals that are loaded in calories, fat and salt.

A pancake breakfast providing 1,380 calories, a single-serve pizza that holds twice the daily suggested allotment of salt and a pasta dish that touts a full four days’ worth of fat are the highlight of the list published by CSPI.

The group claimed that they could find little evidence that the new laws and political pressures are making an impact on the menus of our nation’s restaurants.

"One might think that chains like Outback Steakhouse and The Cheesecake Factory might want to lighten up their meals now that calories will be required on their menus, courtesy of the health care reform law signed in March," Michael Jacobson, executive director of the non-profit CSPI said.

"But these chains don't promote moderation. They practice caloric extremism, and they're helping make modern-day Americans become the most obese people ever to walk the Earth."

The obesity epidemic is never going to change unless the standard fare at popular restaurants also starts to look more reasonable.

Lose Weight Eating Out
Consumers should continue to encourage (that’s code for demand) restaurants to be proactive in not only documenting nutritional information but in promoting reasonable health and wellness. I respect the laze fare approach that says that if society truly wants reasonable meals that the buck will stop at those eateries but frankly our epidemic is so overgrown that we need leadership at all levels. We simply cannot wait for the consumer to stop consuming at such high rates.

Please don’t get me wrong, I love pigging out as much as the next person from time to time. But let’s face it, we need more discipline in our consumption; our favorite restaurants should look to be more focused on the solution than simply creating more of the problem.

Consuming fewer calories is critical to your successful weight loss journey.

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