Bureaucracy Heartless

Bureaucracy Heartless

Perhaps the most surprising element of the new rules was the inclusion of alcoholic beverages, which had not been part of an earlier proposal. Beverages served in food establishments that are on menus and menu boards will be included, but a mixed drink at a bar will not, F.D.A. officials said.

It seems overly cruel of the FDA’s new calorie-count requirements that if you should find yourself in the kind of place where a drink is listed on the menu with a bold, splashy graphic next to some wings drenched in a sauce whose most prominent flavor note is branding from a major multinational liquor company and wads of processed cheese rolled in “exotic” panko crumbs before being deep-fried, you must be forced to confront the reality that the barely palatable Fireball Whiskey Lemonade (which also contains… vodka?) keeping you level contains as many calories as that soft brick of a potato wedge encased in semi-congealed cheese and sprinkled with too-crunch fake bacon.