The Freshii restaurant chain says it will display calorie information on its menus, as required by Ontario law, but has derided the legislation as “overly simplistic.”

Inspectors were dispatched Tuesday to ensure the Toronto-based company was complying with the provincial Healthy Menu Choices Act, which has been in effect since Jan. 1.

Freshii, which sells salads, wraps and smoothies to appeal to a more health-conscious customer, promotes itself as an alternative to greasier fast-food competitors.

Its motto is “Count nutrients, not calories.”

Although the chain said in a statement that it would comply with the Healthy Menus Choices Act under threat of fines, it pushed back against the new rules.

“We believe that displaying only calories on a menu is misleading for our guests,” Freshii said.

Read more:Freshii aims to add 150 to 160 franchised restaurants this year

On its website, the company makes a point of discouraging customers from focusing on the number of calories they consume, saying that can prevent them from considering nutrient-rich food that may also be high in calories.

Dr. David Jenkins, a nutritional sciences professor at the University of Toronto, agrees.

“The nature of the food is probably more important than the calories,” he said.

“If you have a stir fry with tofu and vegetables, there may be a certain amount of fat in that, and you may take a large portion but I’m not going to be worried, (as opposed to) having a Big Mac with fries and shake or, even worse, a soft drink.”

And while it’s nice to know how many calories you are taking in, Jenkins said, the target of government regulations should be major fast food chains, not necessarily places like Freshii.

“I’m more interested in what McDonald’s are doing,” he added. “Where do we want to aim our guns? I think that’s the question. And I think where we want to aim our guns is the fast food restaurants that stretch across not only Toronto . . . but globally.”

When the Star went to a Freshii location in Toronto on Tuesday and asked for calorie information, staff handed over a nutrition guide listing the number of calories, and amounts of fats, sodium, carbohydrates, protein and more, for every menu item.

The nutrition guide is available on Freshii’s website.

And a sign on the front door invites customers to direct any nutrition questions to Freshii’s “in-house nutritionist” via email.

A request for calorie information was responded to within an hour.

The Health Ministry said Tuesday it would not budge from its stance, saying eating too many calories is a key contributor to weight gain and menu labelling can influence consumer behaviour.

The ministry said it will continue to seek compliance with the rules after learning from inspectors that multiple Freshii locations appear to be contravening the act, which applies to food service providers with 20 or more locations. Freshii has about 50 restaurants in the province, according to its website.

The ministry directed local public health units to inspect Freshii restaurants and consider enforcement action against any found to be contravening the act, said spokesman David Jensen. Individual fines for a first offence are a maximum of $500 daily, while corporate fines for a first offence are a maximum of $5,000 per day.

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Jensen said the ministry sent a letter to Freshii's corporate office May 2 to advise them of their duty to follow the regulation, but didn't receive a response.

If the government insists on issuing fines, Freshii will “take the appropriate steps to meet the minimum compliance as required by the rules,” Freshii founder and CEO Matthew Corrin said in the company's statement.

Freshii is planning an expansion that would see it add between 150 and 160 outlets around the world this year.