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.

Councilwoman BrownIn 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?