Big news, fellow weight-watchers: Our orders at chain restaurants, coffee shops and vending machines will soon come with a side of shock and shame. Get ready for calories to be waved in our over-fed faces at these establishments.
New Food and Drug Administration proposals announced last month will require our most widely available food providers to clearly post calorie counts on menus. It’s the latest strategy in the FDA’s ongoing (and so far ineffective) effort to shrink America’s embarrassing obesity epidemic.
This well-meaning mandate will change the look of mass-food presentation, but likely will fall flatter than a day-old Diet Coke in its quest to keep us under the average recommended daily calorie allowance. The National Restaurant Association is endorsing the program, which tells us they are not at all worried about it shrinking their bottom lines.
The FDA estimates we consume about one-third of our weekly calories in non-grocery store-bought items. Like graphic warning labels on a pack of smokes, can’t-miss signage at drive-thrus and cashier counters will be impossible to ignore, intitially.
Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said, “Giving consumers clear nutritional information makes it easier for them to choose healthier options that can help fight obesity and make us all healthier.”
But standardized labeling on processed foods sold in grocery stores has not led to a healthier society. “Did you know that 60 percent of the products we buy in the supermarket we choose spontaneously, and that 80 percent of these we picked within just four seconds?” claims marketing guru Martin Lindstrom in his bestselling book “Buyology.”
Lindstrom argues that warning and nutrition labels have little to no effect on most of our buying habits, which are directed more by subliminal impulses than logic and reason.
I live in Highlands Ranch, home to at least 65 businesses that will have to abide by the new calorie posting rules. Do I expect to see my nearly 97,000 neighbors looking more svelte as a result? Will it help me lose my muffin top?
I can see how this writing on the wall might actually lead to fewer nutrition-based choices. For example, if I discover my perceived healthy “MoJoe” bowl from Tokyo Joe’s is no better calorie-wise than a cheeseburger and fries from McDonald’s (which, according to their websites, is true), I might choose the cheaper option with the drive-thru, all calories being equal.
But maybe that’s just me. “I like the idea,” said friend and neighbor Erin Lamson, who already hunts down nutritional information on websites and in-store pamphlets. Lamson believes handy information will influence people’s decisions. “I think it will lead to long-term benefits.”
But if the supply-side revelation leads to a shift in consumer demand, won’t food scientists respond with changes that lower calorie counts, perhaps by replacing high calorie ingredients with others that may have sketchy nutritional value? This already happens right under our noses on supermarket shelves, where manufacturers of processed foods proudly proclaim “only 100 calories” as the small print lists elements like “cottonseed oil” and “carrageenan,” two inexpensive plant extracts that help achieve that claim.
Cottonseed oil? If you can find me a creature, besides the boll weevil, that thinks cotton is food I’ll eat my socks. In the wise words of Michael Pollan, author of “Food Rules,” we as consumers will need to become even more vigilant about eating real food, not “edible food-like substances.”
If the FDA wants to achieve real results, it should make restaurants post how many miles we have to jog in order to burn off each item. Better yet, force chains to replace chairs with tall tables and treadmills so we can exercise while we eat.
As I look around my community, I’m glad I don’t see a lot of obese kids and adults. Perhaps it has something to do with the abundance of parks, trails, playgrounds, recreational centers and sports activities here.
Meanwhile, Gov. John Hickenlooper recently signed House Bill 1069, which requires 30 minutes of physical activity for Colorado elementary students each school day, another program aimed at battling obesity.
Governments can’t force people to make healthy choices, but they can try to influence behavior through public institutions.
Kristen Kidd (kiddstories@gmail.com) is raising two sons in Highlands Ranch and writing a screenplay about Kathryn and George “Machine Gun” Kelly.
