Menu labeling at restaurants: Has the time come?

February 6, 2010

Jack Rutherford The Richmond Register Sat Feb 06, 2010, 11:00 PM EST

If you knew that a Whopper with cheese (760), large fries (500) and large coke (290) contained 1,550 calories, more than three-quarters of the recommended daily caloric intake for adults, would you change your selection? What if your child was the one ordering the meal?

A recent study published in the journal Pediatrics found that putting nutrition labels on fast foot may lead parents to pick lower-calorie meals for their children.

In 1990, the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act mandated that packaged foods have nutrition information on the label. Currently, there is no such requirement for fast food restaurants.

Experts think the time has come. They believe the consumer has a right to know what’s in the food they order. For example, consumers should know before they order that a McDonald’s large chocolate shake has more calories than two Big Macs, or that a bagel with cream cheese at Dunkin’ Donuts has more calories than two jelly doughnuts, or that Denny’s French toast with butter and syrup has 1,000 calories, more than twice that of the country fried steak and eggs (464).

Why don’t they want you to know? In a word — sales. Americans spend roughly half their food dollar on food consumed outside the home and spent $156 billion on fast food in 2008. Given that these foods are a huge part of the American diet, it’s important to know what’s in them.

Why is it important for you to know? Because people eat more calories when they eat out and more calories means increased body weight. Two of every three adults and one of every three children in Kentucky are obese. The correlation is unmistakable.

Health advocates believe the time for food labeling has come and have introduced legislation in Frankfort that would require fast food and chain restaurants that have 20 or more stores in the country to list calorie information on menus, inside menu boards and at drive-thru windows. More detailed information would be made available at cash registers for customers who request it. HB 246 and SB 86 have been proposed and mirror the federal bill that is in both versions of the health care reform bill that passed the House and Senate.

Menu labeling has been passed in five states and 10 cities, proposed in 15 other states, including Kentucky, and implemented in several other cities and counties. Supporters of the legislation cite 14 scientific studies that found that customers tend to order foods with fewer calories when labels are present on menus. The average reduction ranged between 52 and 105 calories per order. Reducing caloric intake by 100 calories a day can result in a 10-pound weight loss in a year. That’s significant.

It would be unfair to cast the entire fast food industry in one light. Indeed, the industry has shown that it will respond to consumer demand. For example, McDonalds cut 70 calories from its large order of fries. KFC reduced their Firey Buffalo Wings by 110 calories and Dunkin’ Donuts recently added a low-cal egg white sandwich.

That’s even more reason to pass menu labeling legislation. If passed, the food industry will likely reduce the calorie content of some items in order to appeal to consumer wishes. They might even stand to gain financially from posting calories. Reformulating foods to reduce portion sizes could save food costs and actually increase their clientele to include more health conscious customers.

Educating consumers by providing menu labels on fast foods will help consumers make better decisions. And a consumer’s right to know is the American way. Just like fuel efficiency ratings on automobiles, energy efficiency stickers on appliances and care labels on clothing, point of purchase information helps educate and protect consumers. Hasn’t the time come for menu labeling? Let your legislators in Frankfort know how you feel about this issue.

Thanks to Anita Courtney, Public Health Consultant and Pam Schlomann, Professor of Baccalaureate and Graduate Nursing at EKU for their files and advice on this topic.

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