Subway Is Not Ashamed: First Fast Food Restaurant To Put Calorie Info On Menus

While the other large fast food chains sue the City of New York to keep calorie information off their menus, Subway has gone ahead and complied with the New York City regulation. Dunkin’ Donuts, meanwhile, submitted a sample menu meant to “prove” that putting calorie info on its menu just couldn’t be done… and the NYC Health Department responded by having its own graphic designer redo the sign to prove that it could be done.

The result is hilarious. From NEW YORK STATE RESTAURANT ASSOCIATION VS NEW YORK CITY BOARD OF HEALTH:

Dunkin’ Donuts submitted a sample menu board in an attempt to demonstrate that calorie information would not fit along with price information. From that sample, the Department’s director of graphics produced a replica of the menu board with comparable fonts and layout to demonstrate that calories could be listed easily and visibly, as shown in the illustrations below, and in Mr. Krueger’s declaration.. These modifications, as well as the earlier examples, provide clear evidence that calorie listings required by the regulations are feasible to implement with basic graphic design techniques.

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Dunkin’ Donut’s sample menu is on the left, NYC’s on the right. We were initially skeptical of this regulation, but have to admit that the Subway menu looks really nice and doesn’t seem weird or gross at all. And, since the regulation only applies to big restaurant chains who have already had their nutritional info calculated… We fail to see what the big deal is. For background on what the regulation is and who it applies to, click here.

New York State Restaurant Association VS New York Board of Heath, New York Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, (Legal Brief, PDF) [CSPI]

PREVIOUSLY: NYC Restaurant Group Sues Over Nutritional Info Regulation

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