San Francisco gets sued over calorie labeling
July 8, 2008
If you missed the fight between restaurant trade associations and the New York City Health Department over calorie labeling, you get another chance: San Francisco. San Francisco’s city attorney wants fast food places not only to post calories, but also saturated fat, sodium, and carbohydrates (check out the link for all the documents in this case). Is this a good idea? Aren’t calories enough?
This is a good idea. I would want to know because personally, I’m not as concerned about calories as I am about saturated fat, carbs and sodium.
Comment by Ellen — July 8, 2008 @ 8:51 am
Anyone with insulin-dependent diabetes needs an accurate carb count to determine how much insulin he or she needs to administer to “cover” the food s/he is about to consume. Some persons with non-insulin-dependent diabetes require a low-carbohydrate diet to control their blood glucose levels with minimal use of other medications.
Persons with hypertension, kidney disease, or cardiovascular disease may be on extremely sodium-restricted diets. An accurate sodium count is important for these people; in addition, some people are sensitive to sodium without having any clinically-associated cardiovascular risks.
Comment by tmana — July 8, 2008 @ 9:00 am
this is a great idea so long as it doesn’t interfere with the daily work of the high-end restaurants. for chains with stable menus, this is great.
the next step is educating people on how bad extra calories, saturated fat, sodium and refined carbs really are.
Comment by darya — July 8, 2008 @ 9:08 am
Is there room on a menu for 4 categories? Not really. But it would be great to see sodium, as many chain restaurants add a ridiculous amount of sodium to their food.
Still waiting to see the sign everywhere that says, “Warning: The U.S. Surgeon General has determined that eating food from a chain restaurant is Unhealthy for your life and can lead to Extreme Obesity and Diabetes.” Yes, just put this message on every wrapper and menu.
Comment by Jack at F&B — July 8, 2008 @ 9:47 am
There has to be a better way for people with allergies, intolerances, and dietary restrictions to take the guesswork out of eating outside of the home. Packaged food at the supermarket provides ingredient and nutrition information; ideally we should have access to similar information everywhere we get food. It’s obvious that this is an overload of information for an establishment to print on menus, but here is where mobile phones can come in handy. Imagine scanning a little barcode next to each menu item and immediately seeing the nutrition information information relevant to you.
Comment by Hemi — July 8, 2008 @ 11:58 pm
I know how important it is to choose healthy foods to eat, and how important it is to avoid eating at “fast food” places. For those that still find these places appealing for frequent or even occasional visits, I do see the importance of listing Calories, Sodium, Saturated Fats, Trans Fats (if the city or state hasn’t already banned them) AND the Ingredients of these foods. Many of ready the Nutrition Facts and ingredient labels of foods in grocery stores, why is the ingredient list not available to consumers? A comprehensive Nutrition Facts label would only be appropriate for chain/corporate restaurants, but a simple ingredient list is something that even small restaurants could comply with.
Comment by Daniel Ithaca,NY — July 9, 2008 @ 8:25 am
I agree with the first 2 comments. I care much more about carbs than calories as I try to control my blood sugar.
Comment by RM — July 9, 2008 @ 12:47 pm
I think that calories and nutrition facts should not be placed on menus. The emphasis on nutrition should be about eating at home, at purchasing quality ingredients and putting together a meal for oneself. That way, we know what is in our food, and no one has to write it on a label for us. Of course, many of us like to eat out sometimes, and I think that should be a treat, not a time to brood over what to order because we want one thing but it has too many calories, so we should get another. That’s like sitting down to eat a beautiful meal of pasta with friends, and having one person start talking about how they don’t eat carbs for this or that reason…it’s not fair. Food should be enjoyed, and anything can be eaten in moderation. One must know one’s own body and pay more attention to that than to numbers on a label.
Comment by Gabrielle — September 2, 2008 @ 4:18 pm