On Monday February 26, the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) held a press conference that put the spotlight upon several chain restaurants which offer single-course menu items each loaded with 2,000 calories or more. In their March issue of the Nutrition Action Healthletter, the article titled X-treme Eating: Increasingly Indulgent Menus Entice Diners to Pig Out detailed the caloric and fat content of these dishes. Many contained over a day’s requirement of calories and more than two days worth of fat. CSPI Executive Director Michael Jacobson is pushing for city, state, and federal laws requiring nutrition information on chain restaurant menus.

In response to this report, Philadelphia City Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown (pictured at left) proposed a measure requiring chain restaurants that operate within the city to provide nutrition information for their menu items. Required information includes caloric content, fat, carbohydrate and sodium. The proposition has been praised by CSPI as well as by Sara Solomon of Temple University’s Center for Obesity Research and Education. “Knowledge, if not power, is at least progress,” stated Solomon, in regards to fighting the obesity epidemic.

Says Councilwoman Brown, “Consumers want to know.” And by all indications, she’s absolutely right. Customers who were interviewed on the street by Philly’s ABC news affiliate WPVI seemed to whole-heartedly support her new proposal. As they exited chain restaurants, they were asked if knowing the caloric content of the dishes would affect how they order. One young woman from Ridley Park said, ” If I knew what was in [the food items], and the calorie intake, would I change my mind? Absolutely.”

A WPVI reporter placed calls to members of the Philadelphia’s restaurant industry. He received no response. (I imagine that the restauranteurs are all busy getting in contact with the NRA — no, not the gun people… The National Restaurant Association — to learn what their collective answer should be. I also imagine that their answer will have much more to do with the well-being of their restaurants’ profits than with the health and well-being of their customers.)

What do you think? Would you support a menu labelling proposal if your city representative suggested it?

The American Medical Association (AMA) has recommended that the FDA revoke the “generally recognized as safe” status of salt. According to this recent AMA press release:

“Cardiovascular disease remains the number one killer of Americans. People who reduce dietary sodium intake are taking an important step in preventing future health problems,” said AMA Board Member and practicing cardiologist J. James Rohack, MD. “We hope these recommendations will encourage food manufacturers and restaurants to modify their current practices of adding unhealthy amounts of sodium to their products.”

The FDA is also called upon to impose new limits on sodium in both processed and restaurant food. The AMA is recommending a 50% reduction in allowable sodium, as well as a program to help educate the public about the health benefits of long-term sodium reduction.

Last year the consumer advocacy group, Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), filed a lawsuit with similar demands. But the FDA has been dragging its feet, citing technological barriers and poor sales as the causes. For more information, check out the CSPI’s report, “Salt: The Forgotten Killer [pdf].”

Back in February of this year (has it been that long?), I wrote about the possibility of it becoming illegal to purchase health supplements without a prescription. Well, guess what? The threat is still there.

The purpose of this post is to let you know of a very simple thing you can do to help stop this attack on our liberty.

First, have you heard of Vitamin Cottage? It’s a mini grocery store that specializes in vitamins, health supplements, and other healthy foods. We have a couple near where I live in south Denver.

Anyway, Vitamin Cottage has made it easy to protest these possible legal changes. Simply go to the Customer Service counter at one of their stores. They’ve prepared pre-written letters for you to sign in protest of the proposed laws. Just read the letter and, if you agree with it, sign it. Vitamin Cottage will mail the letter to the appropriate place for you.

During our last visit, both my wife and I signed letters of protest.

I really appreciate Vitamin Cottage for doing this because it makes it easy for me to express my opinion. It can be so difficult and time-consuming to get letters to the right politicians and legislators in the right branches of government. Vitamin Cottage has made it easy.

Of course, it’s in Vitamin Cottage’s best interest to provide this service. If the proposed laws pass, then Vitamin Cottage—and all health stores like it—could literally disappear overnight. So, please, if you have a Vitamin Cottage near you, take some time to sign a letter.