If the FDA has its way, when you sit down for that turkey dinner at your favorite truck stop next year, it may come with a warning label.

That’s because the federal Food and Drug Administration is considering a plan that would require all restaurants nationwide to provide labels that would list a meal’s nutritional information – just like the info on the labels of food you buy at the grocery store, according to a story in The Kansas City Star.

The National Restaurant Association opposes the proposal.

According to a nutritional analysis by Susan Sullivan of the University of Maine Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition and Elaina Hopkins, a human nutrition student, here’s what you might find on the label attached to a Thanksgiving meal: 

• 2,134 calories;
• 63 grams of protein;
• 308 grams of carbohydrates; and
• 77 grams of fat.

That’s for a meal that includes turkey, giblet gravy, stuffing, yams, mashed potatoes, peas and onions, bread, cranberry sauce, hot cider, a slice of apple pie and a slice of pumpkin pie – and no seconds.

According to a release from the university, a 150-pound adult’s nutritional needs for an entire day are:

• 2,300 calories;
• 86 grams of protein;
• 345 grams of carbohydrates; and
• 64 grams of fat.

The FDA first hatched the idea of restaurant nutritional labels when officials were discussing methods to combat obesity.  According to The Star, government figures show that more than 60 percent of the population is overweight, costing the economy billions every year. The news is even worse for truckers. According to John Siebert of the OOIDA Foundation, more than 87 percent of truckers are overweight, or worse, obese.

Most of the labeling proposals being floated now would compel restaurant chains with at least 20 locations to put labels on their menus. So, at least for now, your favorite Mom-and-Pop joint is safe.

--by Mark H. Reddig, associate editor

Mark Reddig can be reached at mreddig@landlinemag.com.