Feb Non Fiction Blog "Calorie Detective"

            I read the article and watched the video on the nytimes website called “Calorie Detective” by Casey Neistat. The main idea of the video and the article is that the author believes that New York City’s Department of health law that stats chain restaurants have to post the number of calories on their meals is not 100% accurate. The author along with two other scientists did a test on 5 samples of food from common chain restaurants: a Subway sandwich, a Starbucks Frappuccino, a muffin, a tofu sandwich and a Chipotle burrito. The author states, “Four out of the five items I tested had more calories than their labels reported, adding up to 550 calories. If I unknowingly consumed those extra calories every day, in a week I would put on an extra pound of body weight.” The author explains that some companies have even double the amount of actual calories then the amount of calories that they display on the label. But the author’s general main idea is that this new display of calories system might not be fool proof. The author stated in the article “But there’s one thing I can say for certain: our current system for regulating calories is woefully inadequate.”

           

 Some things I noticed that the author did to get me on his side was to ask the scientists their credentials on camera and ask how much they believed in their results on camera. It reassures you that the results are accurate which can help the author get you on their side. He also says “A spokesman emphatically stressed that the accuracy of nutritional data is important to the company.” He’s telling us that the person “emphatically stressed” something that he basically proved to be untrue by finding that the company did not display the right calorie count, making that company look even more guilty and making his side look more like the right side to be on. He also said, “If I unknowingly consumed those extra calories every day, in a week I would put on an extra pound of body weight. Not good.” The casual, and fact like way he said it makes it seem more like fact then it is and more relatable to the readers which can help the author sway readers into getting on board with his side.

           

I’m shocked that companies lie to the consumers about calorie count. Actually I’m not that shocked. Big chains like the ones that were tested in this experiment would do almost anything to get people to buy their product. I don’t really understand or know if its possible for this country to stop the obesity epidemic if people don’t even know how many calories they are eating.