Starting this year restaurants and cafes will face a financial penalty if they do not make clear the number of calories of each item on their menus. The question is: What is the criterion that these restaurants and cafes use to count calories? Are the calories in all local meals and drinks being calculated correctly? In my opinion, this matter requires further explanation from the concerned authorities. The world is discovering day by day that diet supplements and low-calorie food are a scam and a marketing technique used by some companies. The latest scandal is that a medical college in New York has announced that a diet soda with zero sugar and calories increases the risk of stroke by 25 percent and heart disease by 30 percent. This is just one study on one product from an international company. But how can we trust the other hundreds of products on the market that are being sold by both local and international companies? Or even international products that are made locally and then sold at a higher price because they are labeled sugar free, low fat, etc.? Considering that restaurants and cafes make their own food and drinks, there are no mechanisms or standards for measuring the calories that they contain. Spreading an awareness of the calories in food items is a good step in the fight against obesity, which will benefit society. But there is a need for technical standards to ensure that the information that we receive about food is accurate. Some businessmen may take advantage of the situation and raise prices because a product is low calorie, while in reality there is no proof that this product has any more or less calories than any other product in the market. Twitter: @fahdbinjleid
