UPDATE: Google Maps is removing a feature that told you how many "mini cupcakes" you'd burn if you walked.

The calorie count shows up on the map if the driving directions you've requested cover a short distance. If you already have walking selected, the calories are shown in the step-by-step directions, but not the map.

Basically, it wants to try to encourage you to walk instead of driving by showing you how many calories you'd burn.

A walk from my apartment in Brooklyn to Times Square would earn me *almost* four mini cupcakes.



People are not happy.

Do they realize how extremely triggering something like this is for ppl who have had eating disorders? Not to mention just generally shamey

it’s almost as if google has never heard anything a woman has said in its whole ass life

While Google might think this feature encourages healthy habits, for some, it feels, well, judge-y. And it could be very a negative (or even triggering) experience for people who have an eating disorder. As many as 30 million people in the US are estimated to have an eating disorder. And although this new Maps feature might sound similar to how some restaurants are required to show calorie counts on menus, this is more aggressive. It doesn't just show you the calorie count of the potential walk, it shows you what it amounts to in junk food – and in cupcakes, a type of food that is particularly associated with women.

ty for shaming me for my mini cupcake consumption google maps!!!!

Anyone else feel like the google maps mini cupcake feature reinforces the idea that all exercise must be atonement for the sin of eating?

And for people who don't want to see the calorie-counting feature, there appears to be no way to turn it off. I truly can’t wrap my head around how thoughtless and reckless this is as an automatic feature!! Especially with no intuitive way to opt out

Piss off @googlemaps, I don't even eat cupcakes. Can't believe you can't turn this crap off! 😡 If I want calorie co… https://t.co/KFPpecGIk8

Not everyone in the BuzzFeed Tech News team has this feature on their phone yet – it's likely that this is in testing with a limited number of people right now. Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Katie Notopoulos is a senior editor for BuzzFeed News and is based in New York. Notopoulos writes about tech and internet culture is cohost of the Internet Explorer podcast. Contact Katie Notopoulos at katie@buzzfeed.com. Got a confidential tip? Submit it here.

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