Today, the average American’s daily caloric intake is over 2,000 calories, and, if not countered by exercise, it can cause a one-pound increase per month. A new bill would require fast food restaurants to label the calorie and fat content of their food.
The new bill, Menu Education and Labeling (MEAL), proposed by Democratic Rep. Rosa Delauro, would require chain restaurants to label calories, fat, and sodium content of the foods. This bill applies to chains with 20 or more outlets, affecting restaurants run by large groups like Yum Brands Inc., which runs Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, etc. “This bill will give consumers the necessary nutritional information to make healthy choices for themselves,” said Delauro.
While more than two-thirds of the U.S is overweight, it may not be just from fast-food restaurants. Today, restaurants are serving larger portions, and people have started recognizing these as normal-sized portions. Since restaurants are competing for people’s money, they serve more food to attract more costumers. “This bill is essential because you shouldn’t be eating food on a regular basis if you don’t know what’s in it,” says UW lecturer Donna Weihofen.
Regular restaurants are not required to label their food. Creative restaurants, where chefs are constantly changing the menus and ingredients, cannot account for everything they put into their foods, especially when the meals change from day to day. Chain restaurants with six recipes should label their foods, but creative restaurant chefs cannot catalogue everything, and it would take away all creativity in eating, says Weihofen. “If a person is concerned, they should always ask what’s in their food.”
Compared to restaurants’ food sales in 1970, 46% more Americans spend money on food in restaurants today. In a telephone survey of 600 people done by the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), 67% of those responding believed that requiring fast-food restaurants to display caloric content was necessary. “A McDonald’s Big Mac has 590 calories no matter where you get it,” said CSPI’s Margo Wootan.
According to CSPI, most Americans do not realize how many foods are filled with unnecessary calories; however, the fast food industry has argued that their products are not the only reason for obesity, and that a lack of exercise is also a major problem.
Delauro has argued otherwise. “Studies have shown that children eat almost twice as many calories when they eat at a restaurant as they do when they eat at home.”
Sophomore Michael Goodman believes that the bill is essential for parents to know what their children are eating. “It is a genuine necessity only because the general public should be informed of what nutrients, good and bad, they are putting in their bodies. With this bill, there can be no excuses for parents allowing their children to eat nothing but fast food without knowing what mal-nutrients they are ingesting.”
Although the National Restaurant Association believes that the bill is unnecessary, most Americans agree that it is essential to better eating. If the portion sizes were smaller, people might be in better shape. “If they could cut down the portion sizes, then everything would be far better,” says Weihofen.
