"I was at Coney Island, and I almost died!" my friend Ari was saying.

No, he didn't almost drown. He almost considered ordering Nathan's chili cheese fries. Then he saw on the menu board that it was 1,444 calories (for the large) and — Aieeee!

That's what is happening all over New York City these days, where local law now requires all restaurants with 15 or more outlets to post their sometimes-shocking calorie counts. It is not enough for them to provide this information at a kiosk or on a brochure. Calories have to be posted right up there on the signs where the prices are and in the same-size type. This can get a little confusing; is that muffin $3.20 or 320 calories? But the real issue is that this info is changing the way our city eats.

And soon, possibly, the way the rest of America eats, too.

Consider the fact that New York was the first city to ban trans fat — now a national obsession. It was also among the first to ban smoking in bars, with other cities following suit. So what happens if the rest of America adopts our calorie law, too? What would a brutally honest fast-food landscape look like?

"It looks scary!" said Jessica Alvarado, a social worker contemplating her afternoon treat at Dunkin' Donuts. Peeking at the damage her chocolate frosted cake doughnut would inflict — 330 calories — she told her friend, "There goes dinner" — and she meant it. She only will allow herself a salad for supper. But she wasn't willing to give up her doughnut.

Others are.

"I used to go to Dunkin' Donuts all the time," said ironworker Randy Zayas. When the new signage popped up at the beginning of May, however, he suddenly realized, "My breakfast was too much calories." He switched to 180-calorie Jamba Lights at Jamba Juice each morn.

You might think that people worried about their weight already would have availed themselves of the calorie info on the Web. You'd be wrong. Casual dieters don't seem to have bothered with it, and even serious dieters are shocked when the calorie counts stare them in the face.

"I used to check the Starbucks information online," said writer Mistinia Picciano, who thought she knew the score. Then, she said, two weeks ago, "I was horrified to learn that the new mocha mint-chip Frappuccino I had enjoyed guilt-free in New Jersey — no signs — had 590 calories!"

Surprises such as that are precisely the reason for the postings, said a spokeswoman for New York's health department, Cathy Nonas. Consumers are way off in their calorie calculations. She herself was shocked to learn how many calories there are in some casual dining appetizers and coffeehouse cakes — and she's a dietician.

Restaurants are understandably upset that this new law makes their signs look ugly and cost more, especially because they already made their nutritional info easily available through other means. But most upsetting of all to them are all these newly enlightened, frightened customers.

"When I started seeing the calories, I stopped getting the pastries," said a 22-year-old law student, Nadya Kramerova. So did research analyst Patricia Coronado, as did attorney Joe Molloy — three folks interviewed separately at my local Starbucks. The barista there said pastry sales were off 15-20 percent. (Biscotti sales are up.)

So maybe this will make Starbucks and other eateries start offering healthier alternatives or smaller portions. Or maybe we just will get used to the signs, as we did with the surgeon general's warnings. Or maybe we all will eat puffed rice with our lattes.

Or, fingers crossed, maybe someone finally will come up with that fat-dissolving pill we've been waiting for. I'll take two with my chocolate croissant, please.

And another chocolate croissant.

Lenore Skenazy is a columnist at The New York Sun and Advertising Age. To find out more about Lenore Skenazy (lskenazy@yahoo.com) and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

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