Bill Calls for Eateries To Post Calorie Counts
Sen. Carole Migden (D-San Francisco) has proposed a measure (SB 180) that would require chain restaurants in California to post calorie counts for each item on menus or menu boards to help consumers adopt more healthful diets, the San Jose Mercury News reports (Harmon, San Jose Mercury News, 2/7).
Migden said the legislation would combat the nation's high obesity rate. "We're spending nearly half of our food dollars outside our homes while obesity rates have risen 100 percent over the last 10 years," she said.
Although many restaurants disclose nutritional information online, they do not post information inside the restaurant, which limits consumers' ability to make healthier decisions about what they eat, Migden said (Lagos, San Francisco Chronicle, 2/7).
Migden cited studies that found children eat almost twice as many calories when they eat at a restaurant as compared with eating at home (San Jose Mercury News, 2/7).
Jot Condie, president and CEO of the California Restaurant Association, said it costs about $600 to calculate the nutritional information of one menu item (San Francisco Chronicle, 2/7). Condie also criticized the bill for adding unfair costs to businesses, especially restaurants with frequently-changing menus (San Jose Mercury News, 2/7).