If we showed you a 10-ounce restaur...

If we showed you a 10-ounce restaurant hamburger and a side order of onion rings, could you estimate the number of calories in the meal? Not likely.

That standard was tried on 200 nutritionists on New York University and a assign places to calling for mandatory nutrition labeling for restaurant meals.

The aliment experts consistently underestimated the 1,550-calorie meal--by an average of 685 calories.

The point of the exercise: What chance does the average consumer have to critic the calorie and fat satisfied of meals away from home?

Legislation now being considered in fresh Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Illinois and Hawaii would require restaurants with 20 or more franchises to station nutritional data on the menu boards: calories, trans fats, cholesterol and salt content

COPYRIGHT 2005 PRIMEDIA Intertec, a PRIMEDIA Company. All Rights Reserved

COPYRIGHT 2005 Gale Group