I've heard that if you are looking at foods in a cafeteria or even what you've been served in a restaurant, that the shinier it is, the more likely it is to have a lot of fat.

Obviously this doesn't apply to everything. Jello is pretty shiny. But it might be useful when on alli to only eat the dull stuff.

That makes sense. The shiny from oil. I think fat is shiny, so naturally it would make things shiny and greasy.

It might help you avoid a food that you don't think of as having a lot of fat, but that does when it isn't prepared with reducing fat in mind.

Rather than going by "shine" it might help to know what foods are really fattening and which ones are not. You should stick to a certain amount of calories per day and eat a diet consisting of:

Lean meats such as chicken (no skin) turkey and fish
Vegetables with little added fat such as butter
fruit
low fat yogurt
low fat cheeses
skim milk
Whole grains

and so on. I would, personally, stay away from food in cafeterias that is all "mixed together" so that you have no clue what is in it...such as soups, stews, meat pies, mac and cheese, pasta etc. Your best bet is to have plain chicken breast and a salad with reduced cal dressing.