Here we go again.
As reported in May, certain restaurants in New York City must now, under a new law, post the number of calories for each item on their menu boards or face fines. Now, an entire state may impose the same requirement.
A bill approved by the California Legislature awaiting the signature of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger would make the west Coast the state the first in the nation to require restaurants to display the calorie counts for each item on their menus and menu boards. The law would apply to chain restaurants that have 15 or more outlets. About 17,000 restaurants would be affected by the law that would take effect in 2011. Supporters believe restaurant patrons will make healthier choices if presented the calorie information.
A new study indicates 3 out of 5 Californians are either overweight or obese. Researchers from the Dr. Robert C. and Veronica Atkins Center for Weight and Health at UC Berkeley figure a menu-labeling law will result in people losing weight. They calculate the weight loss after the law’s been in effect for a year would be about 2.7 pounds for adult fast-food customers.
The problem is that there is no way of knowing if people will reduce their intake of fattening menu items and exactly what their weight loss, if any would be. Supporters of the California legislation say the calorie counts in New York City are having a dramatic impact. But that evidence is primarily anecdotal. There’s no definitive study that clearly shows consumers armed with calorie counts makes them thinner. To get the data, a study would have to be done to find out what transpires after the law has actually been in effect for some time.
The American Journal of Public Health looked at 11 chains in New York City giving customers calorie counts. Subway was determined to have the most-easily seen information, making it handy for customers before they placed orders. Only 32% of Subway's customers said they saw the numbers, and of those, only 37% admitted the information affected what they purchased, or 12% of all Subway customers. Researchers determined the difference in calories between customers who saw the numbers and those that didn’t. Subway customers that saw the calorie counts ordered meals on average that had 52 less calories, a 7% reduction.
That tells me a menu-labeling requirement doesn’t work. Most customers aren’t seeing the information, not to mention the fact that a weight loss in a year of 2.7 pounds isn’t, I’m sorry, all that much. Some studies suggest only 15-20% actually pay attention to labels.
California’s restaurant industry prefers legislation proposed by Assembly member Nicole Parra (D-Hanford). It differs from the bill that calls for calorie counts on menus and menu boards by requiring the same information, but allowing restaurants to display it in several ways: menu or other writing at the point of sale, standard food item packaging, counter or table tent, tray liner, poster, brochure or other printed material, and/or electronic kiosk. The information must be available on the premises of the restaurant.
Will Governor Schwarzenegger sign the bill? Sure looks like it. Recently he signed a bill into law making California the first state to ban trans fats in restaurants.
Restaurant-goers are smart enough, I believe, to be able to discern if a menu item is loaded with calories. Government mandating that restaurants give this information, that will only increase their costs, and will probably not have a significant impact on eating habits, is just plain wrong.
