Ever wonder how many calories are in the delicious calamari appetizer you've ordered at East Side Marios? How about the nachos at Boston Pizza? Or my favourite -- the scrumptious lemon poppyseed loaf at Starbucks?
So far, it's not always easy accessing nutritional information when eating out at chain restaurants. Sure, some of them provide information on the premises. Take Swiss Chalet and Boston Pizza. You can ask before ordering and your waiter can give it to you. But at other restaurants, you have to go on-line to get the information. How does that help if you don't have a computer, Blackberry or iPhone on you?
Well, yesterday, Bill Jeffrey from the Centre for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI, a non-profit advocacy organization) spoke about the importance of posting nutritional information directly on restaurant menus. He was there to support the private members Bill 156 -- an Act to amend various acts regarding nutritional information and trans fat content of food and drinks that are provided in restaurants and fast food chains.
CSPI, along with several other health organizations, is urging Minister Deb Matthews (Health and Long-term Care) and Minister Margarett Best (Health Promotion) to support the bill.
Why's it important?
It's about our health.
In the speech he mass emailed to the media, he writes: "There are serious health consequences from choosing restaurant foods without the aid of readily available nutrition information. According to Statistics Canada, 64% of Ontario adults and 28% of Ontario children aged 2-17 are overweight or obese. The World Health Organization estimates that approximately 20% of premature deaths in countries like Canada are due to diet-related risk factors. Eating out more frequently is associated with obesity, higher body fatness, or higher Body Mass Index (BMI), which are major risk factors for heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and many cancers."
Nutritional information such as calories on menus can help consumers make informed decisions about what they'd like to eat.
Take the fast-food chain Wendy's. Every Wendy's I've ever been to has the nutritional information of all their dishes posted. When I'm on a shoot for Marketplace, it's one of the fast-food chains I'll choose to eat at, because, in terms of calories, I can figure out what I can 'afford' that day to eat. Say I want a Baconator. I can check out the info provided and see it's got 610 calories (310 from fat), 34 grams of fat and 1260 mg of sodium. Now, just say I'm trying to watch your weight, or How much sodium I'm eating. What other options are there? A quick skimming of the board will tell me there are options, like chili. It weighs in at 220 calories per serving (60 calories from fat) 7 grams of fat, and 870 mg of sodium. So, it's a better choice. The cameraman might not think so - Baconator's are his favourite - but at least he knows there are options.
Personally, I'm going to choose the chili. Maybe another day I'll treat myself to the Baconator.
I've spoken to Dr. Yoni Freedhoff, an MD who focuses on the treatment and management of overweight and obesity, several times about this issue. He has a good way of putting it: "The currency of weight's calories. If someone is trying to maintain a healthy body weight . it's difficult. (Calories are) really what weight comes from. It's the calories you're consuming versus the calories that you're burning, and if you consume more than you burn, you gain."
A couple years ago, I produced a story with host Wendy Mesley and associate producer Jasmin Tuffaha called "Calorie Confidential." We sent some restaurant dishes to a lab and found out the calorie, fat and sodium content. Our web producer, Robert Ballantyne, did some mock-ups of a Boston Pizza menu to show that it's possible to provide the information on the menu. You can see those mock-ups in the story, and the restaurant association's feedback on them too. You'll also get to find out some surprising calorie information for some of your favourite food at chain restaurants.
So far, it's not always easy accessing nutritional information when eating out at chain restaurants. Sure, some of them provide information on the premises. Take Swiss Chalet and Boston Pizza. You can ask before ordering and your waiter can give it to you. But at other restaurants, you have to go on-line to get the information. How does that help if you don't have a computer, Blackberry or iPhone on you?
Well, yesterday, Bill Jeffrey from the Centre for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI, a non-profit advocacy organization) spoke about the importance of posting nutritional information directly on restaurant menus. He was there to support the private members Bill 156 -- an Act to amend various acts regarding nutritional information and trans fat content of food and drinks that are provided in restaurants and fast food chains.
CSPI, along with several other health organizations, is urging Minister Deb Matthews (Health and Long-term Care) and Minister Margarett Best (Health Promotion) to support the bill.
Why's it important?
It's about our health.
In the speech he mass emailed to the media, he writes: "There are serious health consequences from choosing restaurant foods without the aid of readily available nutrition information. According to Statistics Canada, 64% of Ontario adults and 28% of Ontario children aged 2-17 are overweight or obese. The World Health Organization estimates that approximately 20% of premature deaths in countries like Canada are due to diet-related risk factors. Eating out more frequently is associated with obesity, higher body fatness, or higher Body Mass Index (BMI), which are major risk factors for heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and many cancers."
Nutritional information such as calories on menus can help consumers make informed decisions about what they'd like to eat.
Take the fast-food chain Wendy's. Every Wendy's I've ever been to has the nutritional information of all their dishes posted. When I'm on a shoot for Marketplace, it's one of the fast-food chains I'll choose to eat at, because, in terms of calories, I can figure out what I can 'afford' that day to eat. Say I want a Baconator. I can check out the info provided and see it's got 610 calories (310 from fat), 34 grams of fat and 1260 mg of sodium. Now, just say I'm trying to watch your weight, or How much sodium I'm eating. What other options are there? A quick skimming of the board will tell me there are options, like chili. It weighs in at 220 calories per serving (60 calories from fat) 7 grams of fat, and 870 mg of sodium. So, it's a better choice. The cameraman might not think so - Baconator's are his favourite - but at least he knows there are options.
Personally, I'm going to choose the chili. Maybe another day I'll treat myself to the Baconator.
I've spoken to Dr. Yoni Freedhoff, an MD who focuses on the treatment and management of overweight and obesity, several times about this issue. He has a good way of putting it: "The currency of weight's calories. If someone is trying to maintain a healthy body weight . it's difficult. (Calories are) really what weight comes from. It's the calories you're consuming versus the calories that you're burning, and if you consume more than you burn, you gain."
A couple years ago, I produced a story with host Wendy Mesley and associate producer Jasmin Tuffaha called "Calorie Confidential." We sent some restaurant dishes to a lab and found out the calorie, fat and sodium content. Our web producer, Robert Ballantyne, did some mock-ups of a Boston Pizza menu to show that it's possible to provide the information on the menu. You can see those mock-ups in the story, and the restaurant association's feedback on them too. You'll also get to find out some surprising calorie information for some of your favourite food at chain restaurants.
Yea, I saw something today at Starbucks. They had put how many grams of fat that item had (8g in a lemon poppyseed loaf), needs to be encouraged to continue this way.
yes they should deff at least offer it in the restaurants but alot of people dont want to ask they should have it on the table so anyone who is interested can see.
Yes, having the nutritional values would help a lot. I have seen some description in one of the chains here in Vancouver, but they had just described the macronutrients there. Nothing was mentioned about the micronutrients. Will the proposed bill include them?
Just noticed the bill would only apply to companies with more than $5 million in annual revenue - that's a good thing, at least.
I would hope that smaller independent restos would be exempt from this bill. It's non-trivial to get dishes analyzed at a lab, and just imagine the burden on places that change their menus frequently to take advantage of locally-sourced ingredients or to tailor their offering to what their customers want.
That said, I think it's a fundamentally misguided and naive way to approach this serious public health issue. Throwing statistics at people who don't care about them is not going to yield significant results. Take a step back and look at how much energy and money in our economy is dedicated to unhealthy filler ingredients - both in producing them and in stimulating demand for them - and THAT is where it might be possible to get some leverage.
We need to support this bill, it will help us and our kids what we put in our bodies daily and help us have a better health overall.
What a great idea! I totally support it.
i would support it
totally then i would know
what i was really eating!!!!!!!
I think that this would make the resteraunts step up and make not only healthier meals, but they would find ways to make them more appealing for everyone, as far as taste is concerned. I know I have a lot of recipes at home and they are often tastier than what I can get eating out (even at a nice resteraunt)and are most definately better for me. EVERYONE can benefit from eating healthier. Our bodies continue to age and wear down regardless of how thin we are or how fit we may be. We should all be doing a "double-take" as to what we put in our bodies!!
Most restauraunts will already provide you with the nutritional value of your food if you just ask them.
I've got a better idea for a bill. Limit any one restaurant to 5 locations. While it's a noble idea to have nutritional information on menus, I think this would be a burden for small restaurants, especially if they change their menu on a regular or even daily basis. I'm not a big fan of these chain restaurants, which are barely a step above fast food. It just doesn't make sense that you can order the same food in 50 cities and have it taste the exact same each time. It certainly doesn't surprise me that their much researched recipes contain such high amounts of sugar, fat, and salt. It's the easiest way to make food taste good, and nearly identical from coast to coast. If we're going down the road of having them post nutritional information, then limiting the ingredients in their recipes, can't we just skip a couple steps and just ban chain restaurants? Next time you're planning on going to one of these places, think again and go someplace where the sauces don't come premade in jars.
I would support this. I'm wondering who wouldn't?
Probably a good idea for those who tend to eat processed foods, whether it's from the grocery store or fast food chains. They do not understand the importance of a good diet, until their health is affected, and even then we try to deny it.
On their defense though, they lead a totally different life than generations before. Job pressures, school pressures, advertising pressures, time pressures are some of what guide their choices, and they simply have never learned to make healthy choices from an early age.
Maybe it's time for society(and not government, since they do not have our best interests at heart anymore) to make food and health education mandatory in schools.
Well, if it was calorie content maybe. But I go out to have a *treat*, once every few months. Not to have a daily meal! I don't mind if I am having a meal that may be a little high in calories. As long as it didn't come in powder form or from a frozen box and reheated, and the chef actually cooked something for me... I will order it.
If people eat out SO much they need to know the calories, then they have other issues to deal with first.
Research has shown that menu labeling works for patrons concerned with their health & doesn't work for patrons unconcerned with their health.
No surprise there.
It's also no surprise that the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association is against this bill.
Their mandate is to help their member restaurants increase profitability and calorie counts are not going to help increase sales.
If you wish to watch as restaurants slowly digress from "tasty", "scrumptious", and "excellent" dishes to "bland", "plain" and "not worth the money" plates of food, then by all means support the bill. Guaranteed, once the public sees the nutritional value of some of their once enjoyed foods, they will be frightened to ever return again....and this will most certainly lead to a steady elimination of restaurants everywhere....unless they all turn to serving salads only (with one teaspoon only of the lowest fat dressing of your choice- one!).