TPH: “Savvy Diner” Campaign on Menu Labelling
Posted: June 26, 2013
Categories: Food in the News / GoodFoodBites
On April 29, 2013, the Toronto Board of Health approved the report “What’s On the Menu: Making Key Nutritional Information Readily Available in Restaurants”. It recommended that the province mandate that sodium and calorie levels be displayed at or before the point of sale in restaurant chains with ten or more outlets nationwide, or gross revenues in excess of ten million dollars. If by September of this year the province has failed to move on the report, the City of Toronto is encouraged to proceed with its own bylaw.
Toronto Public Health began its get-the-word out campaign last week with a comical Internet video entitled “Can’t Tell By Looking.” In it, Torontonians are shown how difficult it can be to assess the nutritional value of everyday foods, highlighting a lack of transparency in marketing, and overall consumer awareness. By making nutritional information more readily available, TPH hopes to link the food we eat to the province’s growing levels of obesity.
Opinion is divided on the matter, with representatives of the restaurant industry skeptical that providing such information will significantly influence consumer behavior. Menu Labelling initiatives in the United States, specifically New York City and Seattle, have had little impact on overall calories consumed. There are also practical concerns, specifically the cost associated with ascertaining accurate calorie and sodium levels for individual dishes.
The issue is complicated and we encourage our members to share their views. For more information, please see the official Toronto Public Health report)