Soon we are all going to be required to have a calorie list of all our items, unless things change in Washington, just like the big boys have now. This won’t be a cheap process and it’s not something that just anybody can do. Does anyone know of a company that does this that won’t break the bank. I was thinking if I did it now before we are forced to I might be able to get it a little cheaper. If you know of someone or if you have differentinfo on having to get the list please let me know. Thanks
Was there some sort of legislation passed or pending regarding this? This is the first I’ve heard of it.
Contact Tom the Dough Doctor. His employer/business(American Institute of Baking, AIB for short) can do this.
Menu Measure: Health Bill Requires Calorie Disclosure
Restaurant chains with 20 or more outlets – that covers more than 200,000 restaurants nationwide - will be required to list the calories in each food item on menus, menu boards, drive-through displays and vending machines. Additional information - such as sodium levels, carbohydrates and saturated fats – must be available upon request.
Small businesses, temporary specials and custom orders are exempted from the bill. And once the FDA rules are in effect, they will pre-empt nutrition disclosure requirements in a number of states and localities, including California and New York City.
Unless you have 20+ locations, you will not fall under the Federal standard. Still, it may come to a point where the consumer expects that every restaurant they frequent - no matter the size - should be able to provide them with this information.
If you’ve ever figured out the cost on a scratch-made menu item or a serving, then you can translate that ability to figuring out nutritional information. Instead of solving for the $ amount, you calculate the calories or grams of carbs/fats or amount of sodium.
Perhaps this would be a good article for the next issue of PMQ - how to work up a nutrition facts declaration for a menu item.
Brad, thanks for clearing that up. I was kind of thinking it was going to be based on number of locations but I was not positive. I agree that it would be a positive to have, I already have many customers who ask for one. I agree that it would be a good idea for PMQ to have an article on how a Indy can do it themselves.
You know from a consumer stand point… and the fact that pizza is actually a very balanced and nutrious meal at times… I would almost run with this and get the numbers now and maybe even advertise them with comparisons against other take out meals… fast food… etc. I think the numbers will be in favor of the pizza in the vast majority of the meals. Also… the big guys will probably not use this advertisement as the quality of cheese and meats that they use have more fillers and higher fat content and will not show as being as healthy as the indie’s product. Has anyone had their pies run for nutrition and would you mind posting what you have?
1870 calories estimated in my 10" cheese pizza (somthing like 9oz dough, 1.5 oz sauce, 3 oz cheese). Not something I necessarily want to put on the front door sign. Some people come in and eat a whole 10" meatlover by themselves.
Government ain’t gonna be happy with my Excel spreadsheet if it ever comes to that. They will expect lab analysis giving the average breakdown per 100 gram sample and then extrapolated for serving size. We are talking some money to ge tthat analysis done. Univ of GA Extension I believe will have the needed information for GA extablishments, if they find need for it. I am a one pony show, so I should meet all sorts of exemptions from that silliness.
:shock:
Are you sure? My 10" cheese, with almost exactly the same specs - 966 calories.
I found this site very helpful: http://www.caloriesperhour.com/index_food.php
We don’t have a 10" pie, but our 12" would be about 1200 calories so I guess a 10" would be about 1000 for us. Compared to a fast food large burger with all the trimmings and sauces etc the pizza looks pretty good.
I don’t believe that to be the case.
[url=Federal Register, Volume 75 Issue 129 (Wednesday, July 7, 2010)]
And looking at that it says…
You can read some FAQs at Determining the Nutrient Content of a Restaurant Food.
Also, you can go here to voluntarily register to become subject to the new law if you so choose. Why would you want to do this? Well, if your local or state menu-labeling rules are too tough, then you can elect to follow the federal guidelines instead when complying with them is easier.
“Hey PMQ, I think there might be an idea for an article here somewhere!?!”
When Dominos was pushing its low carb pizza their nutritional analysis showed numbers for one slice of a 12" pizza cut into 8 slices. Obviously they do not expect one eighth of a thin crust 12" pizza to be a serving so they just used what numbers made them look good. I think most consumers take these numbers with a grain of salt due to obvious manipulation like this.
Heck. I’ll double check my math and post tonight.
I can provide a little input. First: Our labeling Group does this type of work for literally hundreds, if not thousands of companies and stores. For more information please contact Elain Meloan at emeloan@aibonline.org.
Next: Unlike a hanburger, a pizza is not considered to be a single serving, in fact, as we all know, a pizza will contain a number of servings (for most of us). Point is, there is a defined serving size for pizza, and that is 140-grams (roughly 5-ounces), so no, you won’t be saying that out 10-inch cheese pizza provides XXXX calories, but instead, a single slice (weight of the slice divided by 5-ounces) if the slice weighs 10-ounces you would state then (2-servings) provides X number of calories. So, if we’re looking at a 16-inch cheese pizzawith 2,000 calories, and a slice (1/6 of the pizza) weighs 10-ounces the calorie claim would be something like 2000 divided by 6, or 333-calories. Not 2,000 calories. This isn’t exact, but it gives you an idea of how it is done. As you can already see by reading the posts, you cannot take what one persion is doing and use their claim. Also, if you change any of the pizza specifications, such as the amount of cheese or some other topping, you’ve got to have the work on that pizza redone. Keep in mind that it ain’t necessarily the Feds that you want to look out for. Its the locals! Some cities are implementing their own nutrition programs.
Tom Lehmann/the Dough Doctor
As there appears to be quite a bit of interest in this topic, I talked to out Nutrition Labeling Group about getting their assistance in putting together an article that might address a lot of questions on this topic. I plan to begin work on it next week, and submit it for publication by the end of the week. Hopefully, we can watch for it in one of the upcoming issues of PMQ.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor
I’m glad to see there are so many people interested in this topic. While it’s true that the current laws only apply to stores with several locations, think back to the days when it was only one or two states, and then to a time when it wasn’t required at all. Better to be prepared; plus, it never hurts to know what’s in your menu items.
Looking forward to seeing Tom’s article when I receive it.
Liz Barrett, editor-in-chief
PMQ Pizza Magazine
Pizza places can list calories by-the-slice instead of whole pie now. Link: Pizza operators get their wish with FDA’s final menu labeling regulations