Mar 10, 2008 11:38 am US/Eastern
New Text Service Sends Fast Food Nutrition Facts
Consumers Can Get Dietary Info For Most Menu Listings
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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Finding out the nutrition facts for your favorite fast food items is a text message away.
AP
Text messaging has become one of the fastest and most dominant methods to communicate and deliver a message – so much to the point that it's got its own language. Between "OMG," "LOL," and "ILY," some might say texting has become an unhealthy habit, but now the technology is being used as a health aid for consumers.
Ever wonder what's really in that fast food burger or burrito you're eating? It hasn't been easy information to find out, until now. The Web site Diet.com is offering a free service for cell phone users that sends them a text message with nutritional information of food from the biggest fast food chains.
All you do is text the restaurant name and menu item to 34381, wait a few seconds, and bon appétit, you've got your nutritional info to go along with your meal.
We gave it our own test by sending a message for the content of a Wendy's "Frosty," and nearly immediately we learned a chocolate "Frosty Junior" contains 4 grams of fat, 160 calories, 28 grams of carbohydrates, and 4 grams of protein.
"[I'd use it] all the time, I love it," says Mandalena Mirdita, just one of many consumers who have caught onto the new service.
It's an idea that is growing in popularity, and experts say a little bit of education can be a good thing in our fast-paced, fast food world.
"It's a help. Anything that helps you make a choice, an informed choice is good, particularly in the eating arena," says Sonja Connor, a research dietician.
Connor says the service can make people change habits and force restaurants to change menu offerings.
"That may be the only we're gonna get some change. Some people have it under the counter, some places don't have it at all," she says. "They say you have to contact the head office or something like that in order to find out the info."
Similar services are cropping up now, too. If you text the word "FISH" followed by a type of fish you're interested in buying to 30644, you'll quickly get back a health rating and even warnings if there's a threat of mercury with the specific species. The service offers smarter choices for which kind of 90 varieties of fish to buy or eat.
Of course, with all these choices at your fingertips, literally, you still have to
want to use them. And some consumers say the services won't really make a difference.
"Me personally, I wouldn't care. If it tastes good, I'll eat it," says Josh Jennings.
You can give the Diet.com gadget a go online too.
Click here to try out the new tool and see what menu items other people are asking about.
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