If you eat at chain restaurants from time to time, you’ve probably noticed that calorie counts are popping up on an increasing amount of menus. That’s because the U.S. Food and Drug Administration set a national standard calling for some of the more popular restaurants to add the calorie counts to their menus. That trend will continue into the next year, as the FDA extended a deadline to add calorie counts to menus by the conclusion of 2016.
The national standard only applies to chain restaurants with 20 or more outlets, but a lot of businesses will have to abide by the law. The standard doesn’t just apply to fast food joints either, as all of the following types of businesses will be required to make changes to their menus:
- Fast food chains (McDonald’s, Subway, Burger King, Dairy Queen).
- Places that serve mainly drinks (Starbucks, Orange Julius, Caribou Coffee).
- Grocery stores that serve hot food/salad bars (Walmart, Costco, Copps).
- Bakeries (Dunkin’ Donuts, Brugger’s, Einstein Bro’s Bagels).
The goal of the move is to make consumers more aware of the actual number of calories they are consuming. Considering more than one-third of U.S. adults are obese and diabetes rates continue to soar, it seems like a worthwhile move.
Some Restaurants Object
Although it seems like putting calorie counts on menus may help consumers keep their waistlines in check, some restaurant chains oppose the national standard. For example, some pizza chains wonder whether they’ll be forced to issue calorie counts for the whole pizza, or just a slice, and how they’ll be required to list the calorie counts for individual toppings.
Some grocery stores are also against the move, especially the chains that offer large hot food bars and salad bars. They believe keeping up with the calorie counts on their rotating and extensive list of items would prove very cumbersome, while other stores simply don’t want to spend money to re-print their menus.
The FDA plans to issue an FAQ-style draft to answer some of the more popular questions about the national standard in August with hopes that the regulations will become more clear and all the necessary restaurants will start implementing changes prior to the December 2016 deadline.
Not all restaurants are against the new measure, as some have used the idea to re-brand themselves as a healthier alternative. Panera Bread Co. was the first company to voluntarily display calorie information on their menus in 2010, and other companies like McDonald’s and Starbucks followed suit in 2012 and 2013 respectively.
Dr. Silverman comments
This is a good move by the FDA, but I’m not surprised that some chain restaurants are dragging their feet. Nobody likes government regulations that affect your bottom line, but making this small change really should help people get a better idea of what they are putting in their body. This is a change that puts our nation’s waistlines ahead of our bottom line, which would be a big step.
Hopefully more restaurants will get on board once the FDA issues their FAQ statement next month.
Related source: MedPage Today