Counting Calories: Buffalo Puts Nutrition Information on Menu Items

Last week, Erie County in New York State, which includes the city of Buffalo, began an initiative to help 200 locally-owned restaurants in the area to list calorie counts, fat content and other nutritional information on their menus as part of a move to fight obesity, the county's biggest public health problem.

Buffalo, known for spicy chicken wings, fishfry and beef on weck, isn't exactly a poster child of eating healthfully. But through a collaboration between the county Health Department and the Western chapter of the New York State Restaurant Association, it is becoming a leader in nutrition labeling.

The program gives health officials and restaurant owners software, called "Menu-Calc," which makes providing complex nutritional information on menu items much easier. The first 200 restaurants to participate will get the software for free.

Although the health care law will require all chain restaurants to post "clear and conspicuous" calorie information once it takes effect in 2011, individual restaurants don't have to list nutrition information, even though they serve dishes loaded with fat, calories, and sodium, too. The Erie County program is the first in the nation in terms of scope and the large-scale way in which the nutrition information will be laid out. Health coordinators are already fielding calls from other municipalities seeking information on the groundbreaking idea.

Alerting consumers of calorie and fat counts can result in healthier choices.

Diners typically underestimate how many calories are in meal, which can lead to overeating. When New York City began requiring chain restaurants to post calorie information in March 2008, an internal study showed that people who used the calorie information bought 106 fewer calories' worth of food, on average, than those who did not see the information.

The Erie County program could be implemented throughout the state. The New York Department of Health (DOH) calls obesity a "major public health threat," with 57 percent of New Yorkers overweight or obese. In its Strategic Plan for Overweight and Obesity Prevention, the DOH calls obesity a "major public health threat" and declares its goal to "increase awareness and knowledge about healthy eating," yet does not specifically target high quantities of fat, salt and calories in restaurant meals.

In order to start real change in New York, the DOH needs to expand the Erie County program throughout the state.  Sign this petition telling the New York State Health Commissioner that consumers want nutritional information posted in all restaurants throughout the entire state.

Photo credit: Serilium