Chain Restaurants Encourage Americans To Over Eat Says Watchdog

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Main Category: Nutrition / Diet
Also Included In: Obesity / Weight Loss / Fitness
Article Date: 27 Feb 2007 - 0:00 PDT

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A US watchdog has charged chain restaurants with encouraging Americans to over eat. It is not unusual to find a single meal packing in more than several days' worth of calories says the US Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI).

CSPI are calling for all chain restaurants to show nutritional information, including the calorie value of each dish, in their menus.

"With appetizers, entrées, and desserts weighing in at 2,000 calories apiece, the time is ripe for menu labeling", they say.

The average recommended daily intake for a woman is 2,000 calories and for a man it is 2,500.

The watchdog says customers don't have a clue that they "might be getting a whole day's worth of calories in a single dish, or several days' worth in the whole meal".

Instead of competing to make products healthier, they are competing to make dishes bigger, says the CSPI in their Nutrition Action Healthletter.

"Burgers, pizzas, and quesadillas were never health foods to begin with," says Michael F. Jacobson, executive director of the CSPI. But many restaurants are changing these dishes into even more harmful versions. "Now we see lasagna with meatballs on top," he says, and "ice cream with cookies, brownies, and candy mixed in."

The CSPI mention products like "Colossal Burger" weighing in at 1,940 calories and 141 grams of fat. That is nearly a day's worth of calories and more than two days' worth of fat. The recommended fat level for a person on 2,000 calories per day is about 65 grams.

They named one "fresh chicken and brocolli pasta" dish the "Angioplasta". Although the title sounded like a healthy option, the dish itself had so much cheese on it that it weighed in at 2,060 calories and 128 grams of fat.

They say that dishes like this are helping to promote the obesity and heart disease crisis facing the US.

CSPI nutrition policy director Margo G. Wootan said that "Americans eat out on average about four meals a week," and "With dishes like these, it's easy blow your diet not just for the day but for the whole week."

Some of the chain restaurants that come under attack are Ruby Tuesday, Chicago Grill and Cheesecake Factory.

The watchdog is calling on governments at all levels to force restaurants to list nutritional information on their menus.

They call the move by the New York City Board of Health to make restaurants list calories on menus and menu board (starting this summer) "courageous" and summon others to follow suit.

Some states are starting to make progress in this area. The watchdog also mentions councilmember Phil Mendelson of the District of Columbia, who has announced he will bring back legislation making restaurants in the capital list calories on fast-food menu boards, and calories, saturated plus trans fat, sodium, and carbohydrates on printed menus.

Mendelson said that "Menu labeling, like any one thing, won't solve the obesity epidemic, but it's one more thing that would help consumers make the healthier choices, if that's what they want to do."

According to the American Obesity Association, more than half of all adult Americans are overweight and between one quarter and one third are obese. There is a higher proportion of obese women than men.

The CSPI point out that nutrition labelling on food sold in shops and supermarkets revolutionized food buying and forced retailers to offer healthier options for consumers. They want to see a similar revolution in restaurants.

Click here for Center for Science in the Public Interest.

Click here for calorie based Interactive Menu Planner from the National Institutes of Health. (US).

Written by: Catharine Paddock
Writer: Medical News Today
Copyright: Medical News Today
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