Menu Labeling - Calorie Counts Raise Awareness

In America the average American consumes nearly a third of its daily calories from fast food chains. This poses a growing concern as scores of people eat fast food because of their daily time constraints. One prominent conception that’s hitting the streets and even on Capitol Hill is the ability to help people decide which of the menu items are healthy and which are not by displaying the amount of calories in each product right on the menu.

Calories on Menus: New York Requires Nutrition Labeling on Menus

The Battle

The battle for “Menu Labeling” starts in New York City on December 6, 2006, when the Board of Health(BoH) amended the Health Code requiring chains with more than 10 national locations to display nutrition information on their menus. The regulations were quickly challenged by the NY Restaurant Association and put on hold until the BoH revised the original amendment and put it into effect on January 22, 2008 where it was again scrutinized by the Restaurant Association, who brought another lawsuit against the board for the amendment. The same Federal Judge denied the suspension of the law until it was appealed since Federal law does not preempt it, nor does it challenge a chains first amendment rights. The law went in effect on March 31st, but enforcement would not take effect until July 19, 2008 for non-compliant stores.

The Reaction

The reactions to the new menu boards are exactly what officials in NY were hoping to see. People are seeing their favorite items on menu boards and gawking at the amount of calories their daily snack provides. The bill was brought to the table not to stop chains from selling high calorie, high fat items, but instead placed there to raise awareness among consumers, 53% of which are OBESE in NYC. The story documents several cases where people have noticed the new information and instead ordered something completely different (the intended effect). Information for calories in addition to being posted on over the counter menus must be displayed in printed menus as well, an example can be seen below.

The Domino Effect

Soon after New York City started passing bills and caught the attention of the media, several cities across the country started following suite. King County in Washington, San Francisco, City and County, and Santa Clara CA have all passed bills to go into effect in 2008 stating that menus must contain caloric content for each item in prominent fonts equal to those of the item name. Chicago County, Washington DC, Montgomery MD, Philadelphia PA, and Westchester County NY currently have pending bills to take effect in 2008.

During the Litigation of New Yorks’ bill, several states also passed ordinances into law to combat unawareness of caloric content in fast food menus stating that calories, at the very minimum, be posted on the menu. For a full list visit CSPI’s Menu Labeling site.

Additional Resources:

Nutrition Labeling: State and Local Bills/Regulations

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written by NYK007, March 25, 2010

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Peter this side from Canada. The things mentioned are unanimous and needs to be appreciated by everyone.This blog really have useful information for everyone. Nice Blog!

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