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| Wednesday, October 15, 2008 |
| Remember the Good Old Days? |
Remember the good old days? We came home from school and only wanted to know “What’s for dinner?” Today we need to know much more. The skills of a Sensei Registered Dietitian or a news reporter with x-ray vision are needed to find the five “W’s” before we feel safe to eat. What, when, where, why, and how did the contents of this meal make their way to our table? Was it a ‘good’ journey? Our well-being may depend on the answers, and as ‘consumers’ we should know what we are buying and eating, at home and out.
Remember the good old days? Eating out was for Saturday Night or Special Occasions. Now it’s the norm. We all think it’s faster, easier, and often cheaper than shopping, cooking, and cleaning up at home. Hidden calories, fat, sodium, and cholesterol make eating out less of a bargain and more of a health risk than most of us realize.
Restaurant menus offer choices to please your palate, and your price range. Usually a picture or a description is available as well. Why won’t they post calorie numbers and allow us to choose foods that fit our nutritional budget as well?
So many restaurants have resisted requests to make calorie counts available that New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger decided to create legislation requiring restaurant chains to reveal how many calories are in their standard menu items. Mayor Bloomberg first proposed, in December, 2006, a controversial measure that would require many restaurant chains to list calories on their menus. It finally became law in New York City in May, 2008, after the Restaurant Association lost a 2 year legal battle seeking to prevent this legislation. The first law of this kind was also passed in California on Oct. 01, 2008. By July 01, 2009 “Chains with at least 20 restaurants” must “disclose the fat, calories, salt and carbohydrates in the dishes and drinks they sell at least half the year.”
What would happen if a giant in the fast food industry, like Yum Brands Inc. decided “to take a leadership role and provide consumers with calorie counts to help them make informed decisions about the food they eat”? For starters, the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a “consumer watchdog group” devoted to public safety would “cheer.” CSIPs’ executive director announced “the voluntary initiative should help shrink waistlines by steering people to healthier menu choices.” He also called “Yum’s announcement ‘a game changer’ for calorie counting at restaurants nationally.” Yum Brands Inc., the parent company of KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, Long John Silver’s and A&W has “decided to take the guess work out of counting calories. The company said the calorie information will be phased onto menu boards starting this year.”
Soon consumers will walk, or drive, into any of the “4,000 company locations and find calorie counts based on individual servings. A national online exercise program to help educate consumers about maintaining a balanced lifestyle will follow. The moves are the company’s latest efforts to keep up with health-conscious customers. In 2007, Taco Bell and KFC switched to cooking oils with zero grams of trans fat per serving.”
Finally, it should be noted that “shares of Yum Brands rose 13 cents to $32.74”, following their announcement.
We’d like to second Michael Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, who said “We applaud this move and encourage other major chains to follow this bold example.”
- Nancy
Labels: healthy eating, Healthy Planet, Nancy
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posted by The Sensei Team @ Wednesday, October 15, 2008   |
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