What does the restaurant industry have to hide? A lot, apparently. A hidden force behind America's obesity epidemic is the fact that many chain
restaurants-which provide one-third of all restaurant meals, according to the New York Department of Health-obfuscate the fat and calorie counts of
their menu items, and fight any attempt to shed light on what, exactly, is going on between their buns and inside their taco shells.
Last summer, when coauthor Matt Goulding and I began researching Eat This, Not That, we were shocked by how far restaurants were willing to go to hide
their nutritional info from our prying eyes. So we conducted our own scientific testing, consulted with nutrition experts, and did some good
old-fashioned snooping. In the end, we uncovered countless secrets these mega-restaurateurs had been keeping. The 16 most mind-blowing are below, but
they just scratch the surface, really.
Since Eat This, Not That hit bookstores in December 2007, it's become a bestseller. And, in one city anyway, the hide-the-calories game has gotten a
bit tougher—a new law in New York City compels restaurants to list calorie data. (Similar legislation was first passed in 2006, but only took effect
in June because it had to survive several legal challenges from—you guessed it—the restaurant industry.) But, for the most part, little has changed.
So it's no wonder that . . . |
