We hope you like scary stories, because Philadelphia's menus are about to rival anything Stephen King has churned out. Fries swimming in saturated fat. Sauces oozing with calorie-laden cream. And pizza slices stewing in a fatty, high-sodium bloodbath. The horror, the horror!

Hot on the heels of New York City's and California's laws requiring that calorie contents be listed on menus, Philadelphia -- the City of Brotherly Love, cheesesteaks and cream cheese -- just ruled that chain restaurants with more than 15 branches will have to inform diners of not only calories, but also saturated and trans fats, sodium and carbohydrate content. The ruling goes into effect on January 1, 2010. It's the nation's strictest nutritional labeling act yet, and the backlash has already begun.

In public statement, Margo G. Wootan, Nutritional Policy Director for the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), praised the law, saying, "There's no reason that consumers shouldn't see the nutritional price for what they're ordering, as well as the financial price. While it's no magic bullet, menu labeling is an easy thing that cities, counties and states can do to help their citizens eat healthfully, manage their weight, and avoid diet-related disease. It's also a useful incentive to the restaurant industry to expand the number and variety of healthy choices on their menus."

Click here to see what the other side has to say.


1,600 Calories...and Worth It?

    Cosi Double Trouble Brownie Sundae, Calories: 1,594, Total Fat: 95 g
    "One warm chocolate brownie & one blondie topped with two scoops of vanilla ice cream, whipped cream & a cherry." Seven nights on the treadmill, alternating between self-loathing and considering eating another one when you get home.

    Laura Gilbert

    Chili's Chocolate Chip Paradise Pie, Calories: 1,600, Total Fat: 78 g
    Why have dessert when you can have novelty dessert?! It comes to your table fajita-style, sizzling in a cast iron skillet. And it's soaking in a vat of cinnamon butter. (Kind of like your heart.)

    Southeast Star, Flickr

    Romano's Macaroni Grill's Dessert Ravioli, Calories: 1,630, Total Fat: 74 g
    This Italian-inspired concoction consists of peanuts, caramel and chocolate in fried pastries served with vanilla ice cream and, uh, more caramel. Don't worry, their New York Cheesecake only has 1,610 calories.

    Watori Goro, Flickr

    P.F. Chang's Great Wall of Chocolate with Raspberry Sauce, Calories: 2,240, Total Fat: 89 g
    Well, it does have 20g of protein and we can write off the raspberry sauce as being in the fruit group, so it's sort of like salad, right?

    tresposhepreppy.blogspot.com

    Applebee's Sizzling Apple Pie with Ice Cream, Calories: 1,086, Total Fat: 56 g
    There's nothing more American than warm apple pie -- that has over a thousand calories. The ice cream melts over the sizzling sugary crust, creating a hot-and-cold classic for your piehole.

    Applebees.com

    Baskin-Robbins Heath Bar Shake, Calories: 2,310, Total Fat: 108 g
    We like our coffee like we like our men: blended with Heath ice cream and caramel and tastefully garnished with whipped cream and pieces of candy bars.

    BaskinRobbins.com

    Mimi's Café Chocolate Chip Pecan Pie, Calories: 1,879, Total Fat: 111 g
    Why choose between pecan pie and a chocolate dessert when you can jam them both onto one plate? Plus, pecans = heart-healthy fats, right? Right? Come back here, we're having chest pains.

    MimisCafe.com

    Friendly's Caramel Fudge Brownie Sundae, Calories: 1,530, Total fat: 70 g
    An Oreo brownie with five scoops of ice cream, hot fudge, caramel and whipped cream. Who could have guessed those ingredients would add up to such high digits? We blame new math.

    Friendlys.com

    Don Pablo's Chocolate Volcano Cake, Calories: 1,380, Total Fat: 77g
    (Not to be confused with the 1997 film.) Take one chocolate cinnamon cake, drop it in a pool of molten chocolate butter sauce, scoop ice cream on top and shovel into maw. Burp.

    Amazon

    On the Border Chocolate Turtle Empanadas, Calories: 1,280, Fat: 729 g
    Really, how better to wash down a meal of fried flour, refried beans and guac than a pile of pastries filled with chocolate, caramel and pecans. With ice cream. Delicioso!

    ontheborder.com

Restaurants complain
Though proponents of the bill argue that it will help Philadelphia's citizens make more informed choices about what they eat, the Pennsylvania Restaurant Association has already requested a meeting with Mayor Michael Nutter in hopes of scoring a veto. Their argument: The new labeled menus will be too expensive, and may deter new restaurants from setting up shop in the city. According to Calorie Lab, Restaurant Association members would prefer to list nutritional content -- limited to just calorie counts -- on pamphlets or tray liners rather than on menus.

Could harm people with eating disorders
Another voice of opposition: eating disorder activists. In reference to the New York City laws, the blog Every Woman Has an Eating Disorder writes, "In-store menu labeling may encourage consumers to base more and more of their food decisions on caloric amounts, leading to greater food restriction, a pathway to clinical eating disorders. For those who already struggle with eating disorders, menu labeling can be emotionally triggering, as patients in recovery work quite diligently to shift from calorie counting." (It should be noted that Philadelphia's ruling calls for more detailed food content, which provides a more well-rounded picture than just calories.)

Is the public interested?
And then there are those who just, well, don't want to know what's going into their stomachs. The blogosphere is rampant with cynical or guilt-laden posts saying, "Thanks, but no thanks." Of the California calorie count ruling, Synaptic Domination asks, "Are our citizens so mentally challenged that we cannot rationally understand that a triple cheeseburger with a large fry and large soft drink is bad for us? Is a law requiring caloric counts of foods seriously going to deter the eating habits of our society?"

Too Full of Hands seconds that opinion: "Knowing how many calories there are in everything I order from a chain restaurant would be entirely 'too much information' for me to take. I'd rather eat in ignorance and not 'know' what I already suspect I should never have ordered in the first place!"

Despite the outcry, there are many who feel the posted information has kept them on their toes, nutritionally speaking. Says Sara Motejl, a New York City-based events director, "I honestly think it's a great law. It certainly has stopped me from grabbing a quick breakfast at Starbucks when I'm running late for work."

Cute Cupcakes

    Ninja panda cupcakes

    Flickr

    Happy bug

    Flickr

    A sugary flower bed

    Flickr

    Ghoulishly delicious

    Flickr

    A horrifying treat

    Flickr

    Sweet, sweet hamburgers

    Flickr

    Hotdogs, anyone?

    Flickr

    Root bear float cupcake

    Flickr

    Monkey-cakes

    Flickr

    Deserted island dessert

    Flickr



Other bills in the works
Love it or hate it, these new food laws are a sure sign of things to come. And those of you not living in Philadelphia, New York City or California might want to stock up on those ignorance-is-bliss bacon cheeseburgers. United States Senators Tom Carper of Delaware and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska have introduced the Labeling Education and Nutrition Act (conveniently dubbed the LEAN Act), which would demand disclosure on nutritional information nationwide. One catch: As Weighty Matters notes, compliant restaurants wouldn't be required to label menus, per se, but could bury those calorie counts on a brochure. The law would also pre-empt stricter laws like the one in Philadelphia, all but guaranteeing that this food fight is going to be steeped in controversy for years to come.

Tell us: Do you appreciate getting all the facts before you chow down? Do you think the info will help people make healthier eating decisions? Do you prefer your cheesecake with or without the guilt?