Ontario chain restaurants must now officially list calories on their menus

Jan 2 2017, 9:17 pm

Do your New Year’s resolutions include cleaning up your eating habits?

New legislation effective January 1st might make that a little easier.

Chain restaurants in Ontario with 20 locations or more are now required to list calorie information on their menus.

It’s a practice that’s been implemented in New York City since 2008, and for me, totally destroyed the novelty of ever indulging in guilty pleasures at American chain restaurants. The newly enacted mandate might make you think twice about how to ration your daily caloric intact.

Here are some popular menu items that top the calorie count at chain restaurants in Toronto.

Breakfast Sandwiches from Tim Horton’s

CALORIES: 270 to 660
Steak, egg-white and cheese on an English Muffin is among the lowest calorie options on the Tim Horton’s morning menu. At the other end of the scale, the Bagel BELT (a stack of egg, bacon, lettuce and tomato) rings in at 570 calories, while a sausage, egg, and cheese biscuit comes in at 530 calories.

Think a wrap is the “healthy option?” Think again. The Farmer’s Breakfast wrap is the worst of all at 660 calories.

Steak Burrito from Burrito Boyz

CALORIES: 970 for a small / 1140 for a large
Over two dozen locations in Ontario are famous for their tortilla wrapped bundles packed with options like steak, chicken, and fried fish and DIY toppings inclusive of refried beans, cheese, Mexican rice, veggies, gauc’, salsa and sauces.

At the top end of the calorie count on the menu, find the steak burrito hovering around 1,000 calories.

Walk-in slices from Pizza Pizza

CALORIES: 590 to 720
A walk-in slice can be hot and ready to eat in minutes. It’s light on your wallet and conventional wisdom likes to point to that fact that these triangles of cheese, sauce and crust encapsulate all the important food groups.

What will that cost you calorie-wise?

Indulgent slices like the pepperoni, mushroom, and bacon-topped Canadian Eh!, or the self-explanatory Bacon Double Cheeseburger each rack up 720 calories, while “low” calorie options include the Garden Vegetable and Plain Cheese slices at 590 calories.

Quarter Chicken Dinner from Swiss Chalet

CALORIES: 290 (white meat with skin) + 720  (fries) + 110 (white roll) + 25 (Chalet dipping sauce) = 1,145
The chain of rotisserie chicken specialists is being kind of sneaky with its online nutrition info.

The signature dinner only lists the calories for the “main feature” then offers a calculator to do the math on the other items included in the classic meal. You know; fries, chalet sauce, white roll.

Don’t worry. I did the math for you. ^

Yalla Special from Paramount Fine Foods 

CALORIES: 1,230
From the list of appetizers, the Yalla Special might just be the most high-calorie single dish item on the menu from this Toronto-based chain of Middle Eastern restaurants.

At 1,230 the order of fries topped with chicken shawarma, garlic sauce and tahini comes in at the same cost as the protein-packed mixed grill entree (before fries or rice).

Wimpy’s Famous Burger

CALORIES: 916
The old school diner boasts 44 outlets across Ontario where it’s famous for its quirky retro decor and menu of greasy spoon staples like all day breakfasts and its signature burgers featuring a beef patty that’s way too big for a bun.

Said hamburgers come in just under 1,000 calories a la carte. Make it a double and it’ll cost you 1,545. Add a Wimpy’s Poutine to the side and it’ll add a whopping 1,263 calories to the meal.

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