Fight For Your Right…To Eat Right

Want to know how many calories are in that sandwich? Too bad. Last week, the state of Maryland withdrew a bill that would have required nutrition facts be posted at chain restaurants.

Sadly, the bill was shot down because lobbyists from Restaurant Association of Maryland convinced the bill’s sponsor, Mr. Doyle L. Niemann, to drop it. What was their justification? That the restaurants would have to:    “add more text on the menu board”. Yes, that is directly from the restaurants themselves. They are justifying removing the right of consumers to know what they are putting into their bodies because it would add a sentence or two to the menu. Clearly, the interests of the restaurants were held higher than the health of the residents.

Besides, their argument is just plain illogical. How is it that we can add extensive nutrition facts to packaged foods that are already crowded with text, but when this same info is on a menu it becomes cumbersome?

The reasoning is plain dollars and cents. The list of members of the Maryland Restaurant Association reads like a Most Wanted list:

• Roy Rogers
• Burger King
• McDonald’s
• KFC

The actual reason that they don’t want the information posted is that the nutrition facts from these establishments would be downright scary.

Sure, there is the argument to be made: “You can have all the nutrition information that you want, but it doesn’t mean it’s going to change any one’s behavior”. Perhaps most will ignore the information, but that isn’t the point. The point is that we have a right to know.

United State Congress has shared this philosophy for almost 20 years. In 1990, the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act was made into law. The justification of the law was that we, as citizens, had a right to know what we were eating. The fact that restaurants haven’t had to provide the same information has essentially been a giant loophole.

In 2009, New York City won a case in federal court against the New York Restaurant Association regarding this very same issue. The courts justification for forcing New York City restaurants to post nutrition facts? The citizens right to know, as stated in the 1990 Nutrition Labeling and Education Act. By withdrawing the bill, the issue dodges the legal battle that would inevitably be won by the citizens.

A friend of mine who is active in the political arena recently said: “There is a food war going on”.

It’s us vs. the food industry lobbyists. And we’re losing.

After years of research, Brian has set his sights on helping those with lower back pain.  He serves on the Medical Nutrition Committee for The American Society for Nutrition and is a professional member of numerous research organizations including the International Association for The Study of Pain, American Chronic Pain Society, and The American Dietetic Association. He recently created a research-based lower back pain treatment program called The Back Pain Diet which is available from his website www.backpaindiet.com

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