Councilmember Phil Mendelson, along with Chairman Cropp and Councilmembers Allen, Ambrose, Chavous, and Evans, have introduced in the Council of the District of Columbia the Nutritional Information at Restaurants Act of 2003 (B15-0387).  The bill would require table-service chain restaurants to provide calorie, saturated plus trans fat, carbohydrate, and sodium information on menus and would require fast-food chain restaurants to list calories on menu boards next to each item.  The bill would only affect chain restaurants with at least 10 establishments nationally.

Healthy eating is not easy these days.  Everywhere we go we are surrounded by high-calorie, high-fat foods often served in large portions.  Few restaurants provide nutrition information.  McDonald’s and Burger King are the exception rather than the norm and even their brochures and posters can be hard to find and difficult to read.

Increases in Americans’ caloric intake over the past two decades is due in part to increases in the frequency of eating out.  Children eat almost twice as many calories when they eat at a restaurant (770 calories) as they do at home (420 calories). 

Restaurant meals are generally higher in calories and saturated fat and lower in nutrients like calcium and fiber than the meals people typically eat at home.  It is not uncommon for a restaurant entree to provide half of a day’s calories, saturated fat, or sodium.  A white chocolate mocha and cinnamon scone at Starbucks have about half a day’s calories (1,030 calories).  So does a large McDonald’s chocolate shake (1,030 calories). 

The nutrient contents of restaurant foods vary widely but without nutrition information it can be difficult to compare options.  For example, a porterhouse steak has almost twice as many calories as a sirloin at popular steakhouses.  In addition, pricing can make huge serving sizes highly appealing.  Studies show that people tend to eat greater quantities of food when they are served larger portions.

Today:  Please send a message to your Councilmembers and Mayor Williams urging them to support the Nutritional Information at Restaurants Act of 2003 (B15-0387)!