Politico New York reports that the New York City Council will shortly begin considering legislation that would require "the city’s health department to create a poster detailing the 'risks of excessive sugar and other carbohydrate intake for diabetic and pre-diabetic individuals'." The information would be made available in city restaurants.
The bill's introduction comes as the city is fighting with the National Restaurant Association (NRA) over regulations that require chain restaurants to post a warning symbol next to food items that contain more than 2,300 milligrams of sodium; the legality of this regulation is currently before an appellate court.
The story notes that "more than one-in-five New Yorkers are pre-diabetic, according to the health department, and more than 700,000 are estimated to have diabetes ... Many of the bill's details, including what the poster would look like and the amount of sugar and carbohydrates that would be deemed excessive, would be left up to the city's health department.
"The American Heart Association recommends no more than half of your daily discretionary calorie allowance come from added sugars. This is no more than 100 calories per day for most American women and no more than 150 per day for men."
The bill's introduction comes as the city is fighting with the National Restaurant Association (NRA) over regulations that require chain restaurants to post a warning symbol next to food items that contain more than 2,300 milligrams of sodium; the legality of this regulation is currently before an appellate court.
The story notes that "more than one-in-five New Yorkers are pre-diabetic, according to the health department, and more than 700,000 are estimated to have diabetes ... Many of the bill's details, including what the poster would look like and the amount of sugar and carbohydrates that would be deemed excessive, would be left up to the city's health department.
"The American Heart Association recommends no more than half of your daily discretionary calorie allowance come from added sugars. This is no more than 100 calories per day for most American women and no more than 150 per day for men."
- KC's View:
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I'm sure this will get the folks at the NRA all in a lather, as they worry about encroachments by the nanny state. My instinct always is pro-transparency, but I am beginning to think that - especially in a digital age - it would make more sense to take a more comprehensive and sophisticated approach to labeling. Rather than considering salt in this regulation and sugar in that legislation, wouldn't it make more sense to think about how restaurants could lay out the while thing and make it available in an easily accessible digital format?
The problem is that everybody is playing small ball, which creates confusion and litigation and doesn't necessarily lead to enlightenment. It just seems to me that we can do better.
