Why Stop There?

Wouldn’t you also love to know how many calories are in that Foie Gras Stuffed Scottish Grouse at Daniel? I would:

Without a doubt not all diners who order a Burger King Whopper or a Domino’s pepperoni pizza or a Taco Bell chalupa really want to know exactly how many calories they are consuming. Whatever the amount, it is probably more than they should be eating.

But the New York City Board of Health, the city’s powerful arbiter of public health rules, is considering a plan to make it much harder to avoid the cold, hard numbers by requiring some of New York’s 20,000 restaurants, including outlets of the nation’s fast-food chains, to list calories on menus and on clearly displayed menu boards.

The idea is to give diners a dose of reality along with their fries.

The proposal was lost amid the other much splashier recommendation the board is considering to prohibit the city’s restaurants from serving food containing more than a tiny amount of trans fats, the chemically modified ingredients considered by doctors and nutritionists to increase the risk of heart disease.

But the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene is also intent on creating the nation’s most rigorous system of calorie disclosure in restaurants. It is intended to combat what is widely regarded as an epidemic of obesity, aggravated for the city’s 8 million residents by their reliance on restaurant meals and take-out food.

“Presenting nutrition information on restaurant menus empowers consumers and influences food choices,” the department says in a description of the proposal on its Web site at NYC.gov/health.

A public hearing on both proposals is scheduled for today before the Board of Health.

The two initiatives have thrust New York City to the forefront of a national debate over the extent to which public policy should be used to improve people’s diets. While health advocates say the proposal for menu labeling is overdue, restaurant executives call it unfair and impractical, and some civil libertarians argue that it intrudes into the rights of free speech and private enterprise.

The rules would apply only to restaurants with highly standardized menu items and portions that already make their caloric content available on the Internet, in brochures or in some other format.

Health officials say that only about 10 percent of the city’s restaurants would be affected. But those include many popular chains, like McDonald’s, Kentucky Fried Chicken and Dunkin’ Donuts, that have mechanized American fast food, designing systems ensuring that each component of every serving is the same.