June
2007
Food
Fight: Calorie Labeling in New York Restaurants
By Sharon Palmer, RD
Today’s Dietitian
Vol. 9 No. 6 P. 36
Legislation requiring some restaurants to
display the calorie content of their food is sparking much debate
in the Big Apple.
New York City seems to be the battleground for
a number of high-profile nutrition campaigns, whether it’s
banning trans fats in restaurants or mandating that menus be
labeled with nutrition information. While the trans fat ban
in New York City restaurants has inspired other cities, the
menu labeling issue is still simmering. There is much to consider
when requiring restaurants to place nutrition information at
the point of purchase in public dining venues. Don’t consumers
bear the responsibility for choosing what to eat without spelling
it out? Will menu labeling make a difference? Where will it
end? Maybe someday you’ll reach for a margarita and find
a nutrition label on it.
These are all questions sparking debate, but
many health professionals believe posting easy-to-access nutrition
information for consumers to make more educated—and hopefully
wiser—food choices is good in today’s supersized
society. “Labeling will benefit the public. In a city
where the majority of people are eating at least one meal per
day from a restaurant, I think it is wise to show consumers
what they are actually eating,” says Lynn Goldstein, MS,
RD, CDN, HHC, a New York City-based dietitian and counselor.
New York, New York
The restaurant menu labeling issue was pushed to the forefront
due to the New York City Board of Health’s unanimous vote
on December 5, 2006, to approve regulations requiring chain
restaurants to place calorie information on menus. For the past
five years, the New York State Restaurant Association (NYSRA)
has successfully defeated state legislation to require menu
labeling. But in December, the vote made New York City the first
in the United States to require such action by restaurants.
(Other city and state bills are pending.) The policy requires
that any foodservice establishment that makes nutritional information
publicly available on or after March 1, 2007—through brochures,
signage, Web sites, or any other means—would be required
to post caloric information on their menu boards and menus.
The New York City Health Department estimated that this proposal
would affect roughly one in 10 restaurants.
The city’s health department will allow
alternative ways to post calories if approved in advance; change
in posting to a calorie range (instead of median) for menu items
that come in different flavors or varieties; a three-month grace
period (July 1, 2007 to October 1, 2007) with no fines; and
violations will not be considered in the pass/fail decision
of routine sanitary inspections.
Fern Gale Estrow, MS, RD, CDN, a New York City-based
dietitian and consultant, testified before the New York City
Department of Health and Mental Hygiene on October 30, 2006,
about the proposed amendment (prior to approval) for calorie
labeling. Her testimony revealed background on the current health
statistics associated with the New York City Head Start population,
including a study conducted by the Health Department and the
New York City Administration for Children’s Services in
October 2004, that collected and measured height and weight
data for more than 16,000 Head Start children in New York City.
The study found that 27% of Head Start children were obese and
an additional 15% were overweight.
Estrow reported at the hearing, “Having
menus with calorie information easily accessible prior to purchase
is critical for the public to make informed decisions. Putting
this data on a wrapper or at the bottom of the fast-food carton
is not sufficient.”
Everything seemed well with the menu labeling
regulation until the chairman of the New York City Council’s
Health Committee, Joel Rivera, introduced legislation that could
water down the menu labeling rule. The legislation would require
nutritional and calorie information to be made available in
a pamphlet, on a poster, at a kiosk, or in some other written
form. It would also have the Department of Health create a nutritional
database that restaurants could tap into. “People going
to Burger King are not the kind of people who care about the
calorie count,” a senior adviser to Rivera, Michael Nieves,
said in an interview regarding the menu labeling legislation,
which was reported in the New York Sun on February 26. According
to Estrow, there has not been any news (as of press time) regarding
Rivera’s challenge to the menu labeling mandate.
Bucking Change
The restaurant industry has been successfully fighting nutrition
information regulations for years. The NYSRA makes several arguments
against the menu labeling mandate, pointing out that approximately
76% of all meals are eaten at home; despite labeling on grocery
store products for the past 10 years, obesity rates continue
to rise; approximately 870,000 restaurants nationwide offer
customers a variety of venues, menu items, and portion sizes
to meet their needs; since there are so many different combinations
for foods (eg, a sandwich), it would make it impossible to list
nutrition information for all of these combinations; and human
factors can make nutrition information difficult to provide.
Even non-restaurant industry folk point out
concerns. The regulations might punish the restaurants that
already have nutrition information available in some form. The
mandate applies to a select group of restaurants, primarily
fast-food and chain restaurants. What about all of the other
dining venues—from college foodservice and airport meals
to mom-and-pop restaurants and star chef-owned eateries—that
might be contributing to calorie excess? Will this requirement
push restaurants to become so standardized that dining out will
become as monotonous as eating a frozen entrée? What
if consumers avoid a menu item or restaurant due to posted nutrition
information in lieu of a restaurant that doesn’t post
nutrition information? Is there any proof that providing nutrition
information impacts consumer decisions and reduces caloric intake?
Goldstein says, “I think there is certainly
controversy over just having fast-food and chain restaurants
making this change. However, I think we need to start somewhere,
and these types of food establishments are typically serving
less-than-healthy food more so than a higher-end or privately
owned restaurant would. Also, these restaurants are likely getting
more business per day than other restaurants.”
Restaurants’ Responsibility
for Obesity
Do restaurants have a responsibility when it comes to the public’s
girth? Today’s savvy restaurant industry recognizes the
need to offer consumers a variety of choices to be successful.
Some customers are eating out for sheer pleasure, while a growing
number are interested in healthier foods.
Because of the widespread concern over obesity
and its associated morbidity and mortality, the Keystone Forum
on Away-From-Home Foods: Opportunities for Preventing Weight
Gain and Obesity was requested and funded by the FDA. The forum
brought together a wide variety of participants from industry,
government agencies, civic sector organizations, and academia
to develop recommendations.
The forum report, made in May 2006, pointed
out that Americans are consuming more calories today than three
decades ago. According to the Health and Human Services’
National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, men consumed
2,450 calories per day in 1971, while women consumed 1,542.
In 2000, the numbers were 2,618 and 1,877, respectively.
At the same time, more of Americans’ total
food budget is used for away-from-home foods. The total number
of foodservice establishments in the United States has almost
doubled in the last three decades—from 491,000 in 1972
to 878,000 in 2004. Portion sizes have also increased, both
in restaurants and in the home, over the past two decades. Both
partners in married households are working more, taking time
away from meal preparation. And people may still consider dining
out mostly an opportunity for indulgence, even though they are
dining out more often than they used to.
Some research supports that away-from-home foods
can be a factor in calorie intake and body weight. The forum
report included analysis of existing databases, such as the
Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals, the Nationwide
Food Consumption Survey, and Coronary Artery Risk Development
in Young Adults, and studies of subpopulations. The results
indicated that eating out more frequently is associated with
obesity, higher body fat, and higher body mass index. Women
who eat out more often (more than five times per week) consume
roughly 290 more calories per day than women who eat out less
often. Eating more fast-food meals is associated with consuming
more calories and saturated fat, fewer fruits and vegetables,
and less milk. Overweight adolescents’ daily caloric intake
increases when they eat fast food, but lean adolescents tend
to have no overall increase in calories when they eat fast food.
Further research is needed to better understand the relationship
of eating out and obesity.
Shining the Light
“For the most part, the public is happy to have it,”
says Estrow of menu labeling. “It can help them make decisions.”
For many, nutrition information at restaurants is a right-to-know
issue—after all, this is the era of information. In a
recent survey conducted by Aramark, 83% of respondents said
restaurants should make nutrition information available for
all menu items. And according to the forum report, approximately
one half of people report that the nutrition information on
retail food labels has caused them to change their minds about
buying a food product.
But when making decisions about eating out,
consumers often do not have access to nutrition information
to guide them. Sure, more restaurants have Web sites or brochures
with nutrition information, but how many people check them out
before ordering? Some chain restaurants are tricky about doling
out nutrition information on Web sites, only listing it for
their “healthy” menu items. Even if people read
the stats on their favorite burger combo at home on the Internet,
they can conveniently forget this information when they smell
French fries and hamburger patties sizzling behind the cash
register.
In reality, most people don’t have a clue
how many calories are in the mega platters of quick, easy food
they order at ever-increasing rates. “I don’t think
consumers have any idea what they are really eating from many
of these restaurants, and I think they are going to be shocked
to finally see how many calories and how much fat is in many
of the foods they are consuming,” says Goldstein.
According to the Center for Science in the Public
Interest (CSPI), a typical dinner with an appetizer, an entrée,
and a dessert can hit the 5,000 calorie mark. The CSPI points
out that fewer than one half of large chain restaurants provide
nutrition information to customers. Without clear, easy-to-use
nutrition information, it is difficult for people to make informed
choices, such as guessing that a medium chocolate shake at McDonald’s
has more calories than a Big Mac. And this kind of information
is especially important for the millions of Americans who need
to manage medical conditions such as high cholesterol, high
blood pressure, or diabetes.
The good news is that lower-calorie menu items
are selling in food establishments. Case studies reveal that
the keys to success for such products include substituting lower-calorie
ingredients without compromising taste, employing cooking techniques
that result in fewer calories without sacrificing flavor, shifting
to contemporary packaging, using preportioned packaging, reflecting
trends in consumer health interests, and relying on words and
phrases that imply healthy attributes.
Several organizations have called for the restaurant
industry to provide nutrition information. In a 2001 report
on obesity from the U.S. Surgeon General, it was suggested that
an increasing availability of nutrition information for foods
eaten and prepared away from home should occur. In “Calories
Count,” a 2004 report from the FDA’s Working Group
on Obesity, a plea was made to the restaurant industry to create
a nationwide, voluntary, and point-of-sale nutrition information
campaign for consumers. A 2004 report on pediatric obesity by
the Institute of Medicine suggested that restaurants provide
general nutrition information to help consumers make informed
decisions about food, meal selections, and portion sizes. The
forum report developed several recommendations for food establishments,
including that they provide nutrition information in a standard
format that is easily accessible and easy to use for any menu
item offered on a regular and ongoing basis.
Ellen Fried, an adjunct professor at New York
University’s department of nutrition, food studies, and
public health, calls menu labeling policy a “shine the
light” issue, in which consumers are given more information
about issues they know little about. “People, even nutrition
professionals, have no clue what caloric levels are in foods,”
said Fried at the International Association of Culinary Professionals
29th Annual International Conference in April. “There
will be a segment of the population that will make healthier
selections with point of purchase nutrition information.”
— Sharon Palmer, RD, is a contributing
editor at Today’s Dietitian and a freelance
food and nutrition writer in southern California.
Resources
Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI)
— Menu Labeling Laws and Regulations
CSPI — Nutrition Labeling
in Chain Restaurants
The Keystone Forum on Away-From-Home Foods:
Opportunities for Preventing Weight Gain and Obesity, Final
Report May 2006
New York City Department of
Health and Mental Hygiene Board of Health
New York State Restaurant
Association Legislative Update
“Restaurant
Chains Promote ‘X-treme Eating,’ Study Finds.”
Carib Journal. February 28, 2007
Restaurant Mega Calorie Hits
Here’s a look at the kind of damage consumers
can do at popular restaurants today without even realizing it.
Would they order up these dishes if they saw the calorie counts
posted on the menu?
Chili’s Awesome Blossom:
2,710 calories and 203 grams of fat
Denny’s Country Sausage Bowl:
1,680 calories and 108 grams of fat
Dunkin’ Donuts Chocolate Chip Muffin:
630 calories and 26 grams of fat
Macaroni Grill Seared Sea Scallop Salad with
Dressing:
1,320 calories and 91 grams of fat
Outback Steakhouse Kookaburra Wings with Sauce:
1,160 calories and 75 grams of fat
P.F. Chang’s Great Wall of Chocolate:
2,240 calories and 89 grams of fat
Pizza Hut Meat Lover’s Personal Pan Pizza:
890 calories and 49 grams of fat
Rubio’s Three Fish Especial Taco Combo:
1,420 calories and 78 grams of fat
Ruby Tuesday Colossal Burger:
1,940 calories and 141 grams of fat
Starbucks Venti White Chocolate Frappuccino
With Whip:
760 calories and 21 grams of fat
— Sources: Restaurant Web sites and
Calorieking.com
