Let buyer beware: post calorie counts on Chicago menus

"600 Words by Esther J. Cepeda"

We don’t always have to be the Second City, but I’ll settle for it in this case.

In December 2006 Chicago could have been the one making international headlines about being the first city in the U.S. requiring restaurants to prominently post calorie content information, but New York beat us to it.

In May, after a two-year court battle (and an industry lawsuit is still pending), New York’s large fast food restaurant chains were required to post the calorie counts for their food and full enforcement began last Saturday. If the information – which can usually be found somewhere in the store and many times on corporate web sites – is not displayed prominently i.e., by the price, the chain faces penalties of up to $2,000 per store.

Of course, much like with the Foie Gras ban fracas, da Mayor was having no morsel of the Chicago City Council’s December 2006 proposal to bring the bright idea to a town. Mayor Daley is a, ahem, big believer in letting people make their own lifestyle choices. Though judging from various "Fat City" listings in which Chicago usually makes a top-5 showing, that’s not working out so well for us.

An April 2008 Health report published by Chicago’s Sinai Urban Health Institute did a small survey of face-to-face interviews with a representative group of people living in six racially and ethnically diverse Chicago communities during 2002 and 2003.

Based on the heights and weights reported by the primary caregivers of 501 randomly selected kids 2–12 years old, they found that compared with 16.8% for the U.S., the prevalence of obesity was 11.8% in a non-Hispanic white community on Chicago’s north side, 34.0% in a Mexican American community on the west side, and 56.4% in a non-Hispanic black community on the south side.

If you’re not alarmed by that you don’t need nutrition information: because your arteries are too clogged to have a pulse.

Our mayor, in 2006, was quoted by local reporters as saying "When we come to kids, every medical expert would agree that something needs to be done. Parents need to be more aware of what the calories are." He said that the same day that news outlets across the country reported that bad eating habits are so ingrained in our culture that kids—especially Hispanic ones—are being diagnosed with obesity as early as 18 months.

So maybe now that NY is on the bus, can we get on, too?

Yes, if Chicago started this requirement some restaurateurs would ignore posting rules and some customers would never actually read them. This is, after all Chicago, a place that has a pizza and a hot dog styled in its name, and a beef sandwich no one in Sicily could have possibly dreamed up.

And yes, it would cost time, effort and money for restaurant owners who would have to have their food tested and/or change their menus and signage reprinted.

I still want it. And I’m not the only one.

Do you think there are several major websites (many that are cell phone-enabled) that give common calorie counts for no reason? Do you think free text-messaging services so people can make healthier choices at the counter by getting counts zapped to them, are around just for kicks? Is it any coincidence that one tried and true way to maintain a healthy body weight is to keep written track of calories consumed every day? Of course not.

The bottom line is that an informed consumer is a healthier consumer. If I want a big fat 650-calorie cinnamon bun with my coffee in the morning, I’m probably going to push aside my high risk of Type-2 diabetes (I’m Hispanic and it runs in my family) and get it. The difference is that armed with the information, I can choose to eat half and share or save the rest. Or I can splurge but watch what I eat for the rest of the day.

Uproar over calorie counts in restaurants is just like upset over smoking bans: sure there are lots of people enduring the heat or cold to puff away, upset and possibly boycotting their once-favorite hangouts, but there are also crowds of people streaming into new spots where they never before ventured because they didn’t want to put up with the smoke. And we’re all getting used to that reality. We could get used to calorie counts in restaurants, too. Just like we got used to every single packaged food item sold in the U.S. sporting a nutrition label starting in 2003.

Rarely is it one big thing that makes a difference in our habits, it’s little things like being knowledgeable about what you eat that have the biggest impact. The health gains Chicagoans could make from simply knowing what they are putting in their – and their kids’ mouths – could be monumental over the course of a few generations.

Chicago, our time has come.

Esther J. Cepeda writes the "600 Words" & "Pregunta del Dia" columns, and is also the Chief Marketing and Communications Officer for the Illinois Student Assistance Commission. Her views and reporting do not necessarily reflect those of ISAC. "600 words" is a registered trademark of EeJayCee, Inc., Copyright 2008. May be reprinted with permission, contact eejaycee@600words.com

Comments

[Ed Glassner]

I am shocked that Mayor Daley hasn't assured the passage & imptamenation of this proposal. One of his relatives would be able to form a company to do the nutritional testing or farm it out.

[Carlton Blanchard]

Wow! Esther! You said a mouthful. Er, I mean this column really hits the spot! I'm always impressed with you varied knowledge and opinions on so many topics!

This is another good one!