View Single Post
Old 05-09-2008, 06:33 AM   #71 (permalink)
Cynthetiq
Tilted Cat Head
 
Cynthetiq's Avatar
 
Administrator
Location: Manhattan, NY
NYC just instituted a new law wherein any food establishment with 15 or more stores nationwide will have to put calorie information on their menus.

I have never counted my total calories for the day, but I know that I can have a McMuffin, hasbrowns, oj for breakfast, Pizza Hut Personal Pan Pizza for lunch, and Denny's Chicken Fried Steak, mashed potatoes, with peas and carrots for dinner. In between having a snack of a Snickers Bar, Doritos Nacho Chips, and always having with a Coca-Cola when I'm thirsty.

The problem comes into play when I try to do that every single day, 365 days a year, year in year out.

I have been going to specialty food, processesing and packaging shows for the past couple of years. I must tell you that I have learned an awful lot about how food is prepared and the holy grail of shelf stable >6 months. The longer something is shelf stable the better the opportunity to sell it is.

Food companies that specialize in taking products and making them more shelf stable. This is why when you read the labels you'll see extra chemical ingredients. Those same ingredients are included in many of the food service products we eat from the corporate chains.

Quote:
View: NYC's calories-on-menus law upheld
Source: USA Today
posted with the TFP thread generator

NYC's calories-on-menus law upheld
NYC's calories-on-menus law upheld

NEW YORK (AP) — New York City health officials won a big victory Wednesday when a federal judge upheld a regulation requiring some chain restaurants to post calories on menus.
U.S. District Judge Richard Holwell rebuffed a challenge from the New York State Restaurant Association, a trade group that argued the rule violates the First Amendment by forcing restaurants to "convey the government's message regarding the importance of calories."

BETTER LIFE: Take a look at some of those calorie counts
The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene believes the regulation, which takes effect Monday, will help the city achieve its goal of reducing obesity. The judge agreed.

"It seems reasonable to expect that some consumers will use the information disclosed ... to select lower calorie meals ... and these choices will lead to a lower incidence of obesity," Holwell said.

Chuck Hunt, executive vice president of the restaurant association's New York City chapter, said it would ask the judge to stay his ruling pending an appeal. The health department said it would not start fining restaurants until June 3.

"We don't object to people doing it voluntarily," Hunt said Wednesday. "Our problem was the government agency forcing them to do it. We think restaurants should be able to determine from their customers how they want to get the information."

The new rule applies to restaurants that are part of chains with at least 15 outlets nationwide. That includes fast-food places like McDonald's and Wendy's, as well as sit-down establishments like Olive Garden and T.G.I. Friday's.

Some eateries, including Starbucks and Chipotle, have already started to post calorie information — and it appears to be having an effect.

Mark Laughlin, a freelance art director eating lunch Wednesday at a Chipotle near Manhattan's busy Penn Station, said he opted to have his burrito without the tortilla or corn salsa after reading the calorie count. The menu said a burrito ranges from 420 to 910 calories, depending on toppings.

His lunch companion, Sara Hearn, agreed that the listings are a good idea. "Just giving people the information will make them think twice about what they eat," she said.

Others customers thought the rule was unnecessary.

"People are going to eat what they want; it doesn't matter what the menus say," said Ken Poulin, who didn't even glance at the calorie information as he ordered his burrito. "People need to eat more vegetables and have common sense."

Bob Bertini, a spokesman for Wendy's, said the chain would comply with the rule.

"We've been providing that information for nearly 30 years on a poster available for customers to review before they order," Bertini said.

According to the health department, more than half of New Yorkers are overweight. Officials believe the regulation will prevent 150,000 New Yorkers from becoming obese and will stop another 30,000 from developing diabetes and other health concerns over the next five years.

The impetus behind the rule, health officials have said, is to make people think twice about ordering a 1,000-calorie lunch, which for many is about half the recommended daily total of calories.

The calorie rule is another in a string of public health measures promoted by Mayor Michael Bloomberg. During his first term he banned smoking in bars and restaurants, and more recently he pushed for a ban on artificial trans fats in restaurants.

New York City is believed to be the first U.S. city to enact a regulation requiring calorie information on menus. Since then, California lawmakers and those in King County in Washington, which includes Seattle, have considered similar bills.

The city Board of Health voted unanimously in January to approve the rule, a new version of a regulation struck down by Holwell last year after a challenge from the restaurant association.

J. Justin Wilson, a researcher at the Center for Consumer Freedom, a Washington-based group supported by restaurants and food companies, called the regulation "dieting by guilt," and said it leaves restaurants exposed to possible legal action.

"We're concerned if someone puts an extra dollop of sour cream on a taco, it becomes grounds for a lawsuit," he said.

New York City Health Commissioner Thomas R. Frieden said the decision will allow New Yorkers to make informed choices about what they eat. He said chain restaurants were singled out because they have standardized menus. The new policy won't apply to most fine dining establishments, or the thousands of family-owned delis and pizza shops around the city.

"People can do whatever they want to do with the information," he said. "A lot of people still choose to smoke even though the surgeon general's warning is on the pack."
__________________
I don't care if you are black, white, purple, green, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, hippie, cop, bum, admin, user, English, Irish, French, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, indian, cowboy, tall, short, fat, skinny, emo, punk, mod, rocker, straight, gay, lesbian, jock, nerd, geek, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent, driver, pedestrian, or bicyclist, either you're an asshole or you're not.

Last edited by Cynthetiq; 05-09-2008 at 07:25 AM..
Cynthetiq is offline  
 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360