Report: Restaurants should shrink portions (per FDA commissioned study, too many calories)

AP on Yahoo ^ | 6/1/06 | Andrew Bridges - ap

[NormsRevenge]

WASHINGTON - In the fight against obesity, restaurants should shrink portions, provide more nutritional information and bundle such calorie-laden food as burgers and pizza with healthier side dishes, according to a federally commissioned report to be made public Friday.

The report, requested and funded by the Food and Drug Administration, lays out ways to help consumers manage their intake of calories from restaurants, cafeterias and ready-to-eat meals bought at grocery stores. It does not address school meals.

"As of this decade, Americans are eating away-from-home foods more frequently and consuming more calories from away-from-home establishments than ever before," the report says in making the case for increasing the availability of foods and drinks packed with fewer calories but more nutrients.

The 136-page report prepared by The Keystone Center, a nonprofit policy group, does not explicitly link dining out with the rising tide of obesity, but it does cite numerous studies that suggest there is a connection. It also notes that Americans now consume fully one-third of their daily intake of calories outside the home. And as of 2000, the average American gobbled up and slurped down 300 more calories a day than was the case 15 years earlier, according to Agriculture Department statistics cited in the report.

Today, 64 percent of Americans are overweight, including the 30 percent who are obese, according to the report. It pegs the annual medical cost of the problem at nearly $93 billion.

Consumer advocates increasingly have heaped some of the blame on restaurant chains such as McDonald's. A new children's book and soon-to-be-released movie, both associated with the 2001 book "Fast Food Nation," have kept the issue at the fore.

In response, McDonald's has added entree-sized salads and the option to swap the fries and soft drink in children's meals for apple slices and juice. But when Americans dined out in 2005, the top three menu choices remained hamburgers, french fries and pizza, according to The NPD Group, a market research firm.

Still, restaurants increasingly are offering varied portion sizes, foods made with whole grains, more diet drinks and entree salads to fit the dietary needs of their customers, said Sheila Cohn, director of nutrition policy for the National Restaurant Association. But those restaurants can't make people eat what they don't want to, said Cohn, who contributed to the forum that produced the report. Other participants included government officials, academics and consumer advocates.

"It's really difficult for a restaurant to gauge what a person should be eating. Can you imagine going into a restaurant and the waiter saying, 'Sir, your pants look a little tight today. I have to bring you the fresh fruit plate rather than the chocolate cake for desert'" Cohn said, adding: "It's not really the responsibility of restaurants to restrict the foods that they offer."

The report encourages restaurants to shift the emphasis of their marketing to lower-calorie choices and include more of those options on menus. In addition, restaurants could jigger portion sizes and the variety of foods available in mixed dishes to reduce the overall number of calories taken in by diners.

Bundling meals with more fruits and vegetables also could improve nutrition. And letting consumers know how many calories are contained in a meal also could guide the choices they make, according to the report. Just over half of the nation's 287 largest restaurant chains now make at least some nutrition information available, said Margo Wootan, director of nutrition policy for the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

"If companies don't tell them, people have no way of knowing how many calories they are being served at restaurants. And chances are, they are being served a lot more than they realize," said Wootan, adding that Congress should give the FDA the authority to require such disclosure.

But the report notes that the laboratory work needed to calculate the calorie content of a menu item can cost $100, or anywhere from $11,500 to $46,000 to analyze an entire menu. Cohn said that makes it unfeasible for restaurants, especially when menus can change daily.

An FDA spokesman declined to make agency officials available to discuss the report ahead of a news conference scheduled for Friday.

Representatives of four restaurant chains — including Yum! Brands, the parent company of KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell — who contributed to the report did not return calls seeking comment.

___

On the Net:

Food and Drug Administration: http://www.fda.gov/

[BenLurkin]

[mysterio]

I lost 100 pounds last year and went from obese to thin. Since the end of my diet and the beginning of the maintenence phase, I can tell you that even the diet offerings at resteraunts are 600 + calories most of the time. The salads are more calorie laden than big macs. You can get light options at Applebee's, Ruby Tuesdays, and a couple others I've noticed recently.

Now, I don't support any initiative to get them to change their portion sizes. But as someone who defended smokers by saying "they'll come after your habit next," it's pretty funny to watch.

What's coming next? Obese people are a drain on insurance, and the insurance companies are best buds with our pal the government. The insurance companies will start seriously jacking up rates for fat people within the next decade. And then they won't reduce the rate for regular sized people, just like they didn't drop the rates when they started punishing smokers. And if it's allowed to continue, parents of fat kids will be labled abusive and the kids might fall under CPS protection. But politicians will have to get skinny before that happens. As long as the majority are overweight, you're safe. but as soon as the majority gets within normal weight range, watch how quick it all starts.

[namvet66]

Artery clogging, cholesterol busting, "fat-loaded," decadent, burger.

I'll take 2, with a large side of fries.

The "guvmint" has taken away my "privilege?" to light up when I go out for a beverage or a meal, therefore, I rarely go out any more.

When they finally (and they will, you know) manage to "control" the portions an eating establishment can serve, then I will forgo these occasion forays, permanently.

[fight_truth_decay]

I'm Too Stupid To Know...
by fight_truth_decay

I'm too stupid to know that donuts and other fried foods are unhealthy for me.

I'm too stupid to know that I should not live on cake, cookies, hot fudge sundaes, pies, candy and potato chips alone.

I'm too stupid to know bread can add pounds to the waistline just like pasta and garlic mashed potato topped with bacon bits & sour cream.

I'm too stupid to know Coke, Pepsi and all the other underlings of the beverage world should not replace my intake of water.

(This "I'm stupid to know" research was done without the federal government, corporate donations or little furry animal testing.)

[NZerFromHK]

Nah, you can just ditch burgers and instead try foods like this:

Part of my tarditional cultural backgrounds. Add to it a dished of stir-fried choi sum. Good...

[speekinout]

And last I checked, many restaurants offer smaller portions/meals as well as more "healthy" fair...

That doesn't work everywhere. A few years ago, local restaurants tried serving 1/2 sized entrees (like 1 chop, instead of 2) with the full complement of sides for 2/3 the price of the full sized meal.
I loved the idea, but not many did.
All-you-can-eat buffets are still popular.

You can't force people to be healthy, or even thin, if they don't want to be.

[joem15]

I do the "Old Chinese Secret", I go to Chinese "All You Can Eat" Buffet. I select my own portions and screw legislation that wants to control the portions served to me in a restaurant.

[mewzilla]

Guess the FDA never heard of doggie bags.

Or sharing a meal. I don't even mind the plate charge.

[NZerFromHK]

Let's have a look.

1) Do(ugh)nuts? When was the last time I tried that? 2003?
Fried pretzels? Never had that.
KFC? This time last year.

(Although I had French cream-filled last Sunday. Only that occasion, and had McD burgers in March)

2) Cake? Last month (Mother's Day celebrations)
Cookies? Only one every day for a period of 2 weeks in late April
Hot Fudge Sundes? Had coffee-flavoured chocolate fudge ice-cream. But servings were small (only 110 g) and had it for 3 days.
Chips? Probably in September last year.

3) Potatoes? We just stew them in sauce and then sort of stir-fry it. When we have baked potatoes we add sour cream and nothing else.
Pasta? We add virgin olive oil and some soy sauce. And that's it.

4) Coke? The most recent time I had that was last Wednesday (and it was Coke Zero). Before that it was in Easter.

[AlexandriaDuke]

We need to get these Democrats out of office!

Oh, wait ...

[Moonman62]

Expect portion-limiting legislation in the near future. Congre$$ will be exempt,. of course. ;-)

As soon as Kennedy starts getting his calories from solid food, I'll comply ;-)

[Nuc1]

There is nothing the elite will not take from us if they have a chance. I will NEVER ask an overload "By your leave, sir" or With your permission' sir". I am a free man and I will not give up my freedom to these meddlers, busy bodies, and do gooders.

[MEG33]

;)

[dynachrome]

I seem to have lost my appetite after those first few photos.

[Nuc1]

Love it. If you want to have some fun try ordering a Big Mac with quarter pounder meat. I have ordered many over the years and they are pretty good. But best of all, they actually look like the picture on the menu. Not to mention the confused looks you get from the folks running the picture button cash register. No button you see. They look like Stepford Wives shorting out. Don't forget to order extra sauce. Should be good for about 1200 calories as a guess.

[thoughtomator]

This report is indisputable proof that the FDA is overfunded.

[tubebender]

I see you used good judgment and did not ping the NASCAR Foodies...

[KoRn]

LOL! I always love getting the huge steaks and big burgers. I usually only eat maybe half of it, but damn...they sure do look great on the grill and later on the plate!

[dalereed]

"Exactly..I am dining on wonderful leftovers from a birthday dinner tonight."

what's that?

My mother always told me to leave the table hungry, I took it to mean eat everything on the table and leave it hungry, how can you have leftovers?

[jiggyboy]

Harrumph, harrumph!