NEW YORK - Consumers going to chain restaurants in New York City are now finding out that a Bic Mac is 540 calories or that a grande mint mocha chip frappuccino contains more calories than a double cheeseburger.

 

These revelations have come about as a result of the city’s law requiring restaurants to post calorie counts prominently on the menu.
 
McDonald’s, Dunkin’ Donuts and Burger King are among the restaurants that unveiled new menu boards as a result of the law, which was part of a citywide anti-obesity campaign. After a two-year struggle that saw the original law struck down in a court battle, the law was to be enforced starting Saturday, July 19. Any restaurant that was not in compliance with the new regulations faced a $2,000-per-store penalty.
 
According to the Associated Press, there is not universal acceptance of the regulations yet. Several restaurants had hard-to-read information, while others had calorie counts for select items. Others had no calorie information at all. Approximately 2,500 restaurants in the city are covered in the regulation.

Enrique Almela, director of operations at Singas Famous Pizza, a local 17-store restaurant, calls the regulation a “nightmare.” He said that getting calorie tests for the company’s 35 different pizzas will cost $10,000, and the results may not even be accurate.
 
“I may put 15 [pieces of] pepperoni on a pie,” he explains. “Someone else may put 12. We don’t measure the amount of cheese we put on. If you put up roundabout numbers, how does that help anyone?”