Counter Notes
An independent publication about eating out: how menu nutrition information is produced, what menu labelling rules require, and why the figure on the board is often not the figure on your tray.
Labelling and guides
- What menu calorie labelling does and does not require
Rules differ by country and by the size of the operator, and the exemptions explain most of what people find confusing.
- Why two sources give different figures for the same item
Databases, apps and operator sites routinely disagree. The disagreement is usually explicable and the resolution rule is simple.
- How to read a nutrition panel without being misled by it
The panel is honest and frequently misread. Four habits remove most of the misreading.
Eating out
- Subway: where the published nutrition figures come from
How to find Subway own current figures, and why the board number is not your tray number.
- Arby's: where the published nutrition figures come from
How to find Arby's own current figures, and why the board number is not your tray number.
- Burger King: where the published nutrition figures come from
How to find Burger King own current figures, and why the board number is not your tray number.
- Taco Bell: where the published nutrition figures come from
How to find Taco Bell own current figures, and why the board number is not your tray number.
- Sonic Drive-In: where the published nutrition figures come from
How to find Sonic Drive-In own current figures, and why the board number is not your tray number.
- Blimpie: where the published nutrition figures come from
How to find Blimpie own current figures, and why the board number is not your tray number.
- Little Caesars: where the published nutrition figures come from
How to find Little Caesars own current figures, and why the board number is not your tray number.
- Long John Silver's: where the published nutrition figures come from
How to find Long John Silver's own current figures, and why the board number is not your tray number.