Yes we can! National menu labeling in health reform bill

What an exciting week this has been for America!  On Tuesday, March 23, 2010, President Obama signed the Affordable Health Care for America Act into law. Nestled in the hefty legislation, is Section 2572, which mandates chain restaurants with 20 or more locations display calories on menus, menu boards, and drive-through displays, as well as on vending machines. Temporary specials appearing on the menu for less than 60 days, condiments and test market foods are exempt. The Food and Drug Administration will establish the specific regulations and determine exactly when these changes go into effect. 

Menus will display calories in the context of a total daily diet (which is an average of 2,000 calories per day), so people will be able to make better assessments of their choices.  Many people do not understand what 500 calories means in their daily diet, so including some context with this calorie statement will be extremely helpful.  A study by the Yale University Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity found that people choose lower calorie food when their menus contained caloric information and a statement that explained the average person consumes 2,000 calories daily.

Unfortunately, the legislation only requires restaurants to post caloric content, when other information such as sodium and fat content, are critical information for preventing chronic diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease.  However, the bill states that restaurants will have to provide additional nutrition information to consumers upon request. 

Additionally, the bill will preempt any local menu-labeling legislation, making the national bill the standard for the entire country.  While this is generally a win, it is concerning to DVMC because many of the laws already in place are more stringent and public health conscious.  The DVMC team will be investigating what the national law means for all of us in the nation’s capital, who want more specific nutrition information displayed on menus and menu boards.  Stay tuned for updates!

MWPHA hosts a panel on food policy

On March 3, 2010,  the Metropolitan Washington Public Health Association (MWPHA) hosted a panel discussion to raise awareness about nutrition and access to healthy and safe food. Tambra Stevenson, Chair of the MWPHA’s Food & the Environment Committee, convened the panel which included Carl Rollins of Common Good City Farm, and DC Voices for MEAL Choices own advocate Aileen Orlino.


The panel explored a wide range of issues, including the many aspects of our broken factory farm-focused food and the issues around the high supply of low-cost food that is lacking in nutritional value and high in sodium and sugar.  Carl Rollins described the conditions in which chickens and cattle are raised, the overuse of antibiotics and hormones and their impact on public health, and the effects of all of these elements on the environment.  Rollins supported the use of school garden programs and eventually large-scale urban agriculture as part of a multi-pronged solution to these health and food problems.   Aileen urged a paradigm shift in our culture where people spend a little bit greater proportion of their incomes on food (of higher quality) and become less accustomed to cheap food (and its allure, e.g. convenience).  There are ways to check our addiction to sugar and unhealthy foods. Once we have information, such as nutrition contents of food items on restaurant menus, we can start small and begin to make incremental changes in our diets.

Philly proves it’s a public health leader with menu-labeling policy

In early February, Philadelphia’s menu-labeling law went into effect, requiring chain restaurants to list caloric content of all food items on the menu boards.  Starting April 1, in addition to calories, both chain and sit-down restaurants will have to list saturated fats, trans fats, sodium and carbohydrates.

The menu-labeling law is a step in the right direction for the city’s growing obesity problem.  They City Council recognized the connection between listing extensive nutrition information and the city’s high obesity-related chronic disease rates.  About 13 percent of residents are diabetic and 36 percent have high blood pressure- both of which are above national rates and linked to diet and exercise.  Listing information about sodium and fat content, will help people at-risk for obesity-related chronic diseases choose healthier options when dining away from home.

Philly is the fourth city to implement menu-labeling legislation, making it a true leader in public health policy and the fight against obesity.
   

Menu labeling helps parents make healthier choices for their kids

A new study from the American Academy of Pediatrics online journal reveals that listing nutritional information on fast-food restaurant menus increases the chances that parents will choose lower calorie meals for their children.

The study used McDonald’s menus to survey 99 parents of children age three to six about fast food selection for their children.  Researchers found that when parents were provided with caloric information at the point of purchase, they chose about 100 calories less for their children than parents who did not have the caloric information.  If you think about it, 100 calories over a long period of time is a lot!  If kids could cut 100 calories off every fast food meal they eat, it would do major things for childhood obesity in the U.S.

According to the study report, the amount of food consumed by American children has tripled between1977 and 1996, while child obesity statistics have skyrocketed in recent decades. The study results suggest that if parents have nutrition information at the point they are purchasing fast food for their children they actually make lower calorie, healthier choices for their families.  Let’s get on it DC!  Our families deserve it!  

Rationale and Evidence for Menu-Labeling Legislation - Great new Article in AJPM!

This month's American Journal of Preventive Medicine has a great new article about the rationale behind menu-labeling legislation. The authors break down the issue arguement by argument, refuting the claims of opponents.

CSPI Flip Flops on Federal Preemption of State/Local Menu Labeling Laws!

In April 2009, The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) sent out an e-mail to its supporters asking them to oppose the restaurant industry's Federal menu-labeling law, and support their stronger bill instead. Back then they said: 


"The restaurant industry has its own restaurant labeling bill, the LEAN Act. That sham bill aims to distract members of Congress from meaningful menu labeling and would cancel out all existing state and local menu labeling policies."

Now it's November, and CSPI is pushing hard to pass federal menu labeling legislation once again. But this time the bill they're supporting contains the very policies that they were fighting against just 8 months ago. 

DCVMC Visits St. Teresa Avila Parish!

This past Sunday, representatives from DC Voices for MEAL Choices partnered with the Metropolitan Washington Public Health Association (MWPHA) and the St. Teresa Avila Health Ministry to spread the word about good nutrition and menu labeling in Washington, DC.