Menu labeling: Will calorie counts matter to diners?

Obey the egg.

That’s what the little flag toothpick sitting atop my not-so-little Royal Red Robin Burger was telling me. For aside from the bacon, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes and mayonnaise, this specially promoted hamburger features a fried egg. On the menu, it is described as “the aristocrat of all burgers.” Indeed, sitting in my booth at the Red Robin in Gaithersburg, looking down on this symbol of decadence along with a side of fries, I did feel like a king.

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(Brian Cronin/For The Washington Post)

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At the same time, knowing that this particular burger contains 1,191 calories had me also feeling like that other king, Elvis Presley (he of fried-peanut-butter-and-banana-sandwich fame). What’s more, I began my lunch with onion rings and jalapeno chips. By the time the check came, my meal totaled approximately 3,000 calories.

Basically, I exceeded my daily recommended allowance by about 1,000 calories. As such, I had little to eat the rest of the day. I had also skipped breakfast that morning. Sure, my lunch didn’t have to be so Caligulan. But it was ultimately my choice — an informed choice.

Since July 2010, the Red Robin at Lakeforest Mall in Gaithersburg has provided caloric content for every single menu item as part of a law passed by the Montgomery County Council that applies to restaurants with 20 or more locations in the country. But earlier this month, the Food and Drug Administration issued its own proposal for menu labeling as required by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, in which all chain restaurants with 20 or more locales must post caloric content for standard menu items as well as a suggested daily allowance.

“One of the most important things we can do when it comes to the nation’s health,” said FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg last summer, “is to provide simple basic information to the American people so they can make choices that are best for them and their family.” Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) also praised the legislation: “For nearly 20 years, consumers have benefited from nutrition labels on packaged foods but have remained in the dark about the nutritional quality of their restaurant meals. The passage of menu labeling closes this glaring loophole, giving consumers the information that they need to take control of their own health.” (Harkin and Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., have pushed for menu labeling since 2003.)

But will Americans take control of their own health? Will patrons of Red Robin flock to the Garden Burger knowing it has a mere 561 calories?

According to Jennifer Andrews, director of marketing for Red Robin International in Colorado, the introduction of labels in Montgomery County and elsewhere has had “almost no impact to the menu mix that we’re aware of.” In a phone interview, Andrews said the most popular items are still the cheeseburger (931 calories) and the bacon cheeseburger (1,030 calories). “Our take,” she explained, “is that people know what they’re getting when they come into a Red Robin. . . . When they come in, they’re not focused on the nutrition. Even though it’s right there in front of them, they came to get their favorite burger.”