Would you want to know the exact calorie, fat, and sodium count of that slice of pizza or kung pao chicken as you ordered it? Would it make you eat more healthfully [0]?

It's not a trick question. New York City is considering mandatory menu labeling for chain restaurants [1], requiring them to post calorie counts and nutritional information on their menus and menu boards.

While chains currently post nutritional information on their websites and provide information on request, unless you're diligent [1], it's easy to tune out the fact that a 24 oz. white chocolate Starbucks frappaccino is more than 700 calories [2].

So do you want to face the truth? I guess I do. Grudgingly.

If the restaurants incorporate nutritional information onto their menus, I'm likely to react much like I did when nutritional labels turned up on pre-packaged foods.

I gasped at foods with outrageous calorie counts and double-digit fat grams and then pick something else. Since then, I've never again bought white cheddar popcorn or premium Ben & Jerry's ice cream [3] (why, when there's frozen yogurt?). I've given up the really bad stuff because the nutrition labels make it much easier to resist temptation.

Once I know that my favorite moo shu chicken dish is roughly equal to my calorie quota for an entire weekend, I'll order something else. And I'll invariably choose a side salad over fries if I'm confronted with cold, hard calorie, fat, and sodium counts.

But, let's face it. When it comes to nutrition, ignorance really is bliss. Chances are I'll never again be able to order the fries and rationalize them as a guilty pleasure. Knowing exactly how guilty to feel takes away a lot of the pleasure.

Much as I hate to admit to it, a little part of me (a jiggly little part of me) prefers to remain delusional about the less-than-healthy foods I like. The rest of me, however, is ready for the jiggly parts to stop jiggling.