Meyers wants to post calories
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- October
- 28
County Legislator Joseph Meyers, D-Airmont, today called for a new county law to require certain eateries to post the calorie count in their food.
The “Rockland County National Food Service Establishments Calorie Posting Law†would require an eatery that is part of a chain that has 15 or more restaurants to post the calorie court of their standard food items on their menus, including menus boards.
The law would not apply to menu items that are listed for sale for less than 30 days in a calendar year, Meyers stated.
“Providing calorie information is public health intervention and will help address the rapidly growing epidemics of obesity, diabetes and heart disease,” Meyers stated. “These diseases affect our entire society in terms of higher health care costs for everyone and higher taxes to support Medicare and Medicaid for the uninsured and underinsured. I am concerned that a result of the current economy more of our citizens will be frequenting fast food establishments.â€
He further stated, “The fact is that people who eat at fast food establishments consume more calories. It is important that people are provided with accurate calorie information from which they can easily make their own healthy choices. In the long run, I anticipate that some chains will improve their menus by offering selections lower in calorie count.”
This entry was posted
on Tuesday, October 28th, 2008 at 12:40 pm by Laura Incalcaterra. 
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This is misguided because calorie content is only part of the story, especially when it comes to diabetes and heart disease.
This is an important law and an important battle being fought all over the country. New York City, Portland, Seattle and California have already passed this law, and other states and municipalities have rejected it. Westchester is set to vote next month. The law should mirror the NYC law which mandates disclosure on the menu board (where the price is) or on the menu (and not in an insert of supplement). There is an effort at the national level to water down these laws and the National Restaurant Association and others are supporting something called the LEAN Act. This act would preempt local laws and allow fast food restaurants to post information in places where consumers are less likely to see it, like in menu supplements or on signs visible while you wait in line for service.
Follow the story at: http://www.foodrecalls.blogspot.com.
This is a redundant piece of potential legislation. Anyone who’s ever tried to lose weight, or had diabetes have already looked up what some recipes, food groups are to be avoided, etc.
I once went to Chilis in Nanuet and asked the server what ingredients are used in a dish I was interested and the calories. They happily got me that information. Plus, many “eateries” have healthy choices sections of menus, etc.
This is a waste of time.
Joe Meyers def. needs to count his calories…HAHA
After Meyers behavior at last night’s meeting, he should be censured as a County Legislator, much less trying to think of nonsense like this idea.
If Meyers thinks that Rockland residents don’t know anything about calories, and can’t figure out that some food items, such as steak, pasta dishes and some sauces could be high in calories, compared to some fish dishes, chicken etc then he’s naive.
Plus, portion is important too. But hey, what does anyone know that’s ever had to watch their weight, or due to diabetes, etc have restrictions and don’t do right by themselves.
I’d rather see officials at all levels be more concerned with this economy than calories.
But maybe Meyers isn’t that smart.