• July 11, 2007

The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) is lauding Subway for being the first large chain restaurant to list calories on its menu boards in New York City, as required by municipal regulation.

"Though industry lobbyists often point to Subway to illustrate the supposed impossibility of putting calories on menus, Subway has shown that menu labeling is perfectly feasible," says Margo G. Wootan, director of nutrition policy at CSPI. "We congratulate Subway for leading the pack."

Other fast-food eateries such as McDonald's and Burger King have refused to list calories on menu boards, saying there isn't room. They also are awaiting the outcome of a lawsuit filed by the New York State Restaurant Association in which the restaurant industry claims that menu labeling regulations would violate restaurants' First Amendment free speech rights, an interpretation of the Constitution that CSPI characterized as "deep fried."

According to a legal brief filed by New York Health Commissioner Thomas R. Frieden, Dunkin' Donuts submitted a menu board designed to prove that calories could not fit. In response, the Health Department's in-house graphic artist quickly mocked up a version of a Dunkin' Donuts menu board that easily displayed calories, CSPI says.