Take Some Responsibility

I've posted before about the huge number of calories in some restaurant dishes. You should read What The Restaurant Industry Doesn't Want You To Know if you missed it when I originally posted.

I always thought that most people had no idea how bad some of that food was for them but now I have to wonder. There are stories all over TV and the internet today about a new study from the Center for Science in the Public Interest about movie popcorn.

Everyone seems shocked that consuming a medium popcorn and medium soda at Regal Cinemas is the nutritional equivalent of chowing down on three quarter-pound cheeseburgers that were drenched in 12 pats of butter.

I caught part of this "news" story and was confused. Didn't we learn how bad movie popcorn was 15 years ago from this same organization?

As Yogi Berra said, "It's deja vu all over again."

Movie popcorn is not healthy; it's full of calories, sodium and saturated fat. The only real news in this story is that theater owners who did try to make their popcorn healthier after the '94 study were met with rejection by consumers.

Until people start taking some responsibility for their own health and well-being, our country will end up being strangled by health care costs.

Then again, if you do try to be responsible about your calorie intake, the theaters will not necessarily be of help. CSPI's study found multiple cases of theaters giving out incorrect (lower, of course) calorie counts for their offerings.

In one example, Regal's figure of 720 calories for their medium popcorn was 500 calories lower than the findings of the independent lab used by CSPI. Health-wise your best bet is just to stay away from it.

Of course, I'm still trying to figure out why anyone would pay $12 for popcorn.