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Gov. signs restaurant law in Elk Grove
  
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Chain restaurants to post calorie info on menus
By Cameron Macdonald - Citizen Staff Writer
All chain restaurants in California will be required to list how many calories are in each dish on their menus by the year 2011.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the new law during a press conference outside the Chili’s restaurant in north Elk Grove on Sept. 30.
California will be the first state to require menu labeling in the United States, the governor said.
“Once again, California is the leader in something,” Schwarzenegger said.
The measure aims to promote healthier eating habits for diners and to prevent obesity.
“In order to eat more healthy, we need to know the nutrition information of the food that we’re eating,” the law’s introducer and States Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Pacoima) said.
The United Stated reportedly has an obesity epidemic where 30 states have an obesity rate that is more than 25 percent, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The organization reported that obesity could lead to high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke and some cancers.
“We may be be the first American generation that gives future generations a shorter life expectancy,” the law’s coauthor and Assemblymember Mark DeSaulnier (D-Martinez) said.
Padilla mentioned that a third of children in his senate district, which covers the San Fernando Valley, are overweight or risk becoming obese.
Schwarzenegger said that Californians have gained 360 million pounds in the past decade and compared that number to the 50-ton tank that he drove when he was enlisted in the Austrian army.
“Multiply that by 3,500,” he said in comparing the tank’s weight and that gained by Californians.
The governor mentioned a previous state law he signed that removed unhealthy snacks and beverages from vending machines in public schools.
The law, introduced as Senate Bill 1420, calls for chain restaurants that have more than 20 facilities to include the calories per individual serving as well as how many people that each dish is intended to feed on their menus.
Restaurants that have drive-thrus are required to inform customers they can request a brochure that contains the nutritional information for their dishes.
Any violation could result in a fine that can charge between $50 and $500 as determined by a local law enforcement agency.
Jot Condie, the president and CEO of the California Restaurant Association, which represents restaurants in the state, attended the press conference to share his support.
He joked about normally being considered a “skunk at a garden party gathering like this,” since his organization previously opposed calorie listing on menus.
Condie said that if the policy were to be law it is better for it to be a state law rather than having chain restaurants face different menu laws from various governments.
“It is a law whose time has come,” he said.
New York City has enforced a similar menu law in the past and he later told reporters that city’s restaurants have not experienced a change in diners’ preferences, adding that they already know what nutrition they can expect to consume in restaurants such as pizza places.
“They know if they eat it at three meals a day there is going to be an issue,” he said.
The state will phase in the new menu law next July when chain restaurants will be required to provide nutrition brochures to diners.
The law will take effect in January 2011.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the new law during a press conference outside the Chili’s restaurant in north Elk Grove on Sept. 30.
California will be the first state to require menu labeling in the United States, the governor said.
“Once again, California is the leader in something,” Schwarzenegger said.
The measure aims to promote healthier eating habits for diners and to prevent obesity.
“In order to eat more healthy, we need to know the nutrition information of the food that we’re eating,” the law’s introducer and States Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Pacoima) said.
The United Stated reportedly has an obesity epidemic where 30 states have an obesity rate that is more than 25 percent, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The organization reported that obesity could lead to high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke and some cancers.
“We may be be the first American generation that gives future generations a shorter life expectancy,” the law’s coauthor and Assemblymember Mark DeSaulnier (D-Martinez) said.
Padilla mentioned that a third of children in his senate district, which covers the San Fernando Valley, are overweight or risk becoming obese.
Schwarzenegger said that Californians have gained 360 million pounds in the past decade and compared that number to the 50-ton tank that he drove when he was enlisted in the Austrian army.
“Multiply that by 3,500,” he said in comparing the tank’s weight and that gained by Californians.
The governor mentioned a previous state law he signed that removed unhealthy snacks and beverages from vending machines in public schools.
The law, introduced as Senate Bill 1420, calls for chain restaurants that have more than 20 facilities to include the calories per individual serving as well as how many people that each dish is intended to feed on their menus.
Restaurants that have drive-thrus are required to inform customers they can request a brochure that contains the nutritional information for their dishes.
Any violation could result in a fine that can charge between $50 and $500 as determined by a local law enforcement agency.
Jot Condie, the president and CEO of the California Restaurant Association, which represents restaurants in the state, attended the press conference to share his support.
He joked about normally being considered a “skunk at a garden party gathering like this,” since his organization previously opposed calorie listing on menus.
Condie said that if the policy were to be law it is better for it to be a state law rather than having chain restaurants face different menu laws from various governments.
“It is a law whose time has come,” he said.
New York City has enforced a similar menu law in the past and he later told reporters that city’s restaurants have not experienced a change in diners’ preferences, adding that they already know what nutrition they can expect to consume in restaurants such as pizza places.
“They know if they eat it at three meals a day there is going to be an issue,” he said.
The state will phase in the new menu law next July when chain restaurants will be required to provide nutrition brochures to diners.
The law will take effect in January 2011.
