In a blow to Double Down fans everywhere, science group calls for salt and calorie labelling on fast-food menus

If KFC’s Double Down has taught us anything, it’s that exorbitant sodium levels in food can be just as unsettling as high calorie counts. But regulating—or at least disclosing—sodium levels has proven to be a tricky business, often pitting well-meaning health advocates against folks who would prefer you didn’t know that you were ingesting a city snowstorm’s worth of salt with your meal. Now, the Centre for Science in the Public Interest has come out saying that restaurants should include calorie counts and sodium levels on their menus, arguing that anything less is a disservice to consumers. As the group’s national coordinator points out, it would be ridiculous if you had to seek out nutritional information from the grocery store checkout, rather than simply checking the food’s packaging. So why shouldn’t restaurants be as forthcoming with information? Well, Joyce Reynolds of the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association told the Canadian Press that she believes “menus are the wrong medium through which to communicate such information.” And hey, she added, maybe diners could use smart phone apps to help them make smarter choices. Of course, using smart phones to monitor calorie and sodium intakes sounds a little like replacing one near addiction with another. Read the entire story [CBC] »