New Yorkers try to swallow calorie sticker shock:

“I was blown away,” said Cara, a 27-year-old homemaker from Forest Hills in New York City. “I’m not a no-carb type of person, and I usually don’t even think about it. But you pick up a little muffin with your coffee, and it has 630 calories in it? That’s a bit extreme!”

I found this article incredibly amusing. It is full of mock surprise that fast food has tons of calories. I don’t think that the average person at Starbuck’s is really all that surprised that their favorite treats are loaded with calories. Maybe seeing the actual number of calories is a little surprising at first, but I doubt this will have any long-term affect on New Yorker’s eating habits.

Consider this quote later in the article:

“Some people actually tell us we should take off the labels, because it discourages them from ordering what they want,” he said. “But I think honesty is the best policy.”

People are going to do what they enjoy doing. Cigarettes and alcohol have carried health warnings for decades with almost no impact on consumption. Once the new wears off these calorie labels people will ignore them and eat what they want.

Tags: law