FitSugar

NYC Chain Restaurants Required to Display Calories, Starting Monday

FitSugar — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 03:00:00 -0700

I applauded New York City when it banned trans fat from restaurants and started using healthier oils. I was psyched that fast food chains were also being required to post calorie counts on their menus but annoyed that McDonald's, Burger King, and Wendy's decided that rule didn't apply to them. So it went through the courts, and too bad for them, they're going to have to listen. A judge declared that this regulation is reasonable and will apply to restaurants in NYC that are part of chains with at least 15 outlets across the country. That includes fast-food places like McDonald’s and sit-down chains such as Olive Garden and T.G.I. Friday’s.

The calorie posting rule goes into effect this Monday, April 21. Some restaurants including Starbucks and Chipotle have already started to post calories on menus, but the Health Department won't start fining non-complying restaurants until June 3.

NYC is hoping that by displaying calories, consumers can make healthier choices (like deciding NOT to super-size it), and it will then help to reduce the prevalence of obesity and diabetes (type 2). New York City is the first US city to enact a regulation regarding displaying calories on menus, but Seattle and the state of California are both considering similar bills. Pretty awesome, huh? Do you think this displayed info will affect people's food decisions?

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World Water Day: $1 for Water in NYC

FitSugar — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 11:45:00 -0700

Tomorrow is the U.N. World Water Day, which is in place to help spread awareness of a global health issue that not everyone has clean, safe drinking water available to them. A few hundred NYC eateries are getting on board to help spread the awareness too.

Diners at 225 restaurants around the city will be asked to pay $1 for the tap water that arrives with their meal. Since many of us take the availability of drinking water for granted, as it is free and readily available; $1 is something small we can all do. The money raised will be donated to UNICEF's Tap Project, an initiative aimed at bringing fresh, safe water to the children of the developing world. If you live in NYC and you're going to be eating out tomorrow, get water instead of a coke. You'll be taking in way less calories and you're helping to support a good cause.

Don't live in NYC? There are many other ways to support the cause and provide funds for getting safe drinking water around the globe. My personal favorite is Charityis.org, where 100 percent of your donation goes to freshwater well projects in Africa and just $20 can provide clean water to someone who needs it for 15 years.

Health Food Headlines

FitSugar — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 03:00:44 -0700

I love food. Not just eating it, but reading about it too. Here are three food-driven headlines that caught my eye.

Calorie Postings Don’t Change Habits, Study Finds - New York Times
Remember all the controversy about chain restaurants in the Big Apple being forced to post calorie counts? Well, it looks like you can post the calories, but consumers will consume what they want. A study performed in NYC neighborhoods where obesity rates are high found that although folks said the calorie counts helped them make healthier food choices, they actually ordered higher calorie items than before the calorie counts were posted.

10 Foods Most Likely to Make You Sick - Web MD
Oh, the irony. The Center For Science in the Public Interest researched food-borne illnesses and found that some health foods topped the list, including eggs, tomatoes, and sprouts.

Starting Good Food Habits in Kids From the Womb - Time
As a baby is being formed in utero, so is its sense of taste. A fetus in the second and third trimester has a highly sensitive palate, and what the mother eats helps determine the child's early flavors of choice. All the more reason to eat a variety of foods when pregnant and nursing.

The Dark Side of Posting Calorie Counts

FitSugar — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 03:00:05 -0700

Posting calorie counts has been nothing if not controversial. In NYC the restaurants complained, and now on college campuses students are questioning the practice. In attempts to fight the freshman 15, dining halls have begun posting calorie counts, but there have been some negative consequences. Although about a third of all college students fall into the American College Health Association's obese or overweight categories, the calorie counts might be inadvertently provoking eating disorders.

The unstructured collegiate life, along with all-you-can-eat dining halls, can lead to disordered eating, which is broader than just anorexia and bulimia and includes unhealthy dieting practices. Students and nutritional advisers alike believe calorie counts oversimplify the thought process needed to learn balanced nutrition and that there is a better way to educate vulnerable students about weight gain. Some colleges now post nutritional information online, rather than in the cafeteria, and others have created healthy dining halls, free of french fries, fried chicken, and white bread. Hopefully, higher education can incorporate lessons of healthy living into campus life and help students learn the value of healthy eating and an active lifestyle.

How do you feel about posting calorie counts? Do you feel it can inspire a negative relationship with food?

Do You Think All Fast Food and Chain Restaurants Should Post Calorie Counts?

FitSugar — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 09:00:00 -0700

It began in NYC and made its way to the West Coast, then skipped over the Atlantic and hit the UK.

I am talking about posting calorie counts in fast food and chain restaurants, be it on a menu board at McDonald's or a printed menu from the likes of Macaroni Grill or TGI Friday's. Many restaurants are resistant to the laws and voluntary programs too. What do you think . . .

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NYC Trans Fat Ban in Full Effect Today

FitSugar — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 03:00:00 -0700

If you live in the Big Apple or plan to visit there in the near future, you'll be happy to know that the trans fat ban will be in full effect by today, July 1. Exactly a year ago, all restaurants were required to eliminate trans fat from their cooking oils, margarines, and shortenings. This second deadline states that all prepared foods from restaurants, bakeries, cafeterias, salad bars, and food carts must contain less than .5 grams of trans fat per serving. Yep, by some FDA loophole, foods containing .5 grams can be labeled trans fat free. These various eateries do have a three-month grace period to comply with the trans fat ban; after that they can expect some hefty fines. Unfortunately, prepackaged foods sold in the manufacturer's original packaging at these restaurants, bakeries, etc. (like outsourced prepackaged salad dressing) are exempt from the ban. If so you'll still need to check labels on those foods.

If you frequent a fast food joint, here's what you can expect:

Dunkin' Donuts: Switched to a blend of palm, soybean, and cottonseed oil.
McDonald's: Eliminated cooking in trans fat oil last year. Now their cookies and apple pies are trans fat free too.
Burger King: In NYC chains, their fries, apple pies, and biscuits are trans fat free.

What can you expect from other chains? To find out read more.

KFC: Ditched trans fat and recently removed it from their pot pie and biscuits.
Pizza Hut: Removed trans fat from the one style on pizza that contained it.
Boston Market: In NYC, they're testing a trans fat free version of their chicken pot pie.

I'm really psyched for NYC (actually jealous), that this ban has taken into effect, but I wish these chains would ditch trans fat in other cities as well. Don't you?

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NYC vs. Trans Fats, The Saga is Over

FitSugar — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 08:43:32 -0800

Did you know that the FDA estimates the average American eats 4.7 pounds of trans fats each year? Gross.

Well, not anymore if you live in NYC...

Health officials have made NYC the first city to ban trans fats in the United States. The final decision was made despite the 24,000 restaurants arguing against the ban saying that it is unrealistic to give them only six months to replace cooking oils and shortening and 18 months to phase out the ingredients altogether.

Restaurants will be barred from using most frying oils containing artificial trans fats by July and will have to eliminate the artificial trans fats from all of their foods by July 2008.

The Board of Health also passed another measure which applies only to restaurants that already report the calorie counts and requires them to display the numbers on menus and menu boards. The new law should affect about 10% of New York City restaurants, including many fast-food establishments. It's going to be hard to order that Premium Crispy Chicken Club from McDonald's when 680 calories is displayed right next to it!

Chicago is most likely the next candidate to ban trans fats citywide.

If you want to see what my friend Giggle has to say about all this click here.

Right on NYC!!!!!

CA Evens the Playing Field

FitSugar — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 02:00:00 -0700

While I was mourning over an overturned law that would require NYC restaurants to post calorie counts on menu boards, I nearly missed some good news on the same matter in my neck of the woods.

Here are the details:

By a vote of 42 to 31, the California Assembly [on 9/11/2007] made California the first state in the nation to pass statewide legislation requiring fast-food outlets and chain restaurants to provide nutrition information at the point of purchase – a move favored by 84 percent of Californians in a statewide poll last April. Commonly known as the menu-labeling law, Senate Bill 120 (Padilla/Migden) is seen as landmark legislation to help Californians make healthier choices.

Furthermore:

When signed by the Governor, SB 120 will make California the first state to require chain restaurants and fast-food outlets to provide nutritional information for standard menu items. Specifically, the bill requires the number of calories to be posted on menu boards. Printed menus would provide the amount of calories, grams of saturated fat, trans fats, sodium and carbohydrates.

How cool is that? Being a Californian, this makes me a lot more excited than the pesky NYC law. No word on a proposed date it would go into effect, but I'll keep you posted. Let's hope it passes!

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McDonald's: Not Posting Calorie Counts on NYC Menu Boards

FitSugar — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 10:15:00 -0700

July 1st, 2007 marks the day that restaurants in New York City are required to begin posting calorie counts on menus in type that is at least as large as the price. Some restaurants, however, are not having it.

Word has it that Burger King, McDonald’s and Wendy’s are among the chains planning to defy New York City’s new rule (Taco Bell and KFC aren’t commenting on the matter), while waiting on a lawsuit in federal court they hope will get the new regulation thrown out. The restaurants say that the new regulation makes for a massive eye sore on a menu board in their NYC eateries, but a healthy advocacy group says that the restaurants are just afraid that when people see these eye-popping calorie numbers, they might switch to a smaller size and lose revenue.

In the end the city won’t fine anyone for violating the rule until October 2007, so I think it's going to be an ugly battle until then.

Source

Chain Restaurants: Nutritional Info on Menus

FitSugar — Mon, 05 Mar 2007 10:30:00 -0800

At popular chain restaurants like Ruby Tuesday's and Uno's Chicago Grill, 2,000 calorie menu items are normal. Order yourself some pizza skins to start and you'll be consuming 2,050 calories, 48g of saturated fat, and 3,140 mg of sodium. You're only supposed to have 2,300 mg of sodium a day. I'll take my check now, please!!!

Some menu items, we know are not exactly healthy for us, but because the nutritional information is not listed, we have no idea just exactly how bad they are.

Starting in the summer, many chain restaurants that operate in NYC will be required to list calories on the menu. I'd like to know what you think about that - take my poll on the matter and voice your opinion.

CSPI (the Center for Science in the Public Interest) believes it is about time for Congress to pass Menu Education and Labeling (MEAL) legislation. Labeling menus will encourage people to order healthier items when dining out. The idea being this will help combat obesity, Type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and diet related heart disease.

When nutritional labeling on food products was introduced, it revolutionized the way people shopped for groceries. Nutritional labeling at chain restaurants will help diners make informed decisions when eating out.