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In Videos: Josh Ozersky on ABC's 'Nightline' on Restaurant Calorie Labeling

Posted by Raphael, May 27, 2008 at 9:10 AM

Josh "Mr. Cutlets" Ozersky, editor of The Grub Street, was a guest on last Friday night's Nightline, in which he goes to Hill Country Barbecue to discuss whether calorie labeling in restaurants would affect people's ordering:

I'm a purist. I love it when it's incredibly complex and layered—when all the arts of gastronomy have gone into a dish. But it should all be based on the beauty and simplicity of animal fat.

I don't think calorie counts are going to stop people from ordering something that's really good.

Ozersky compares the calorie contents of a grande mocha Starbucks coffee with whipped cream and pound cake (800-plus calories), a Big Mac (540 calories), Au Bon Pain's Southwest Tuna Wrap (860 calories), a tropical fruit smoothie from Dunkin' Donuts (720 calories), and the biggest stunner—what he calls "sucker salads": the Pecan Encrusted Chicken Salad at T.G.I. Friday's, clocking in at 1,360 calories.

Ozersky: "Pecans seem healthy. They're nuts. Chicken is skinless, there are greens. It's colorful and healthy, yeah, but it's almost as many calories as three Big Macs."

When asked if calorie labeling would improve people's lives, Ozersky replies, "It doesn't make my life better. I have a freakish existence. But I'd say it probably makes for a better society."

Video after the jump.

Ozersky appears at 2:05 in the video, and a freaky fast-motion barbecue-eating scene appears at 2:14.

Josh Ozersky on 'Nightline'

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Tags: calorie labeling, diets, health, Josh Ozersky, Nightline, nutrition, TV