New Law Keeps Restaurants in Check, But Some Are Already RebellingBack in February, we reported on a new law that would force any restaurant in New York City with at least 15 locations nationwide to post nutritional information alongside their menus. On Monday this week, the law finally went into effect, and already some New York restaurants are testing their limits.
Five restaurants were cited on Monday for failing to comply with this effort to curb obesity, type-2 diabetes, and other diet-related illnesses. They were the usual suspects: Dunkin' Donuts, McDonald's, TGI Friday's, Sbarro, and Popeye's. Oddly enough, though, in each case it was only one location that failed to comply with the law, indicating that all the other restaurants in each of those chains have posted the information.
While no fines will be issued until mid-July, this slap on the wrist should prove that the New York Department of Health is serious.
Originally, the law was slated to take effect in late March, but was delayed because of a lawsuit by the New York State Restaurant Association. And though the association is now taking the case to a federal appeals court, the presiding judge, Richard J. Holwell, didn't wait to begin enforcing the law.
Come July, chain restaurants that fail to post the information will receive fines ranging from $200 to $2,000. It'll be interesting to see if some of them do the math and find that simply paying the fines is cheaper than the loss of business they might see if they do inform their customers that a single meal in their eatery packs enough calories, fat, and cholesterol for a whole week.
Then again, maybe posting that information won't affect their businesses at all. That's up to the consumers.
What I'd like to know, is when non-chain restaurants will be held accountable for our nutritional well-being. A law like this suggests that only chain restaurants -- the ones everyone knows are unhealthy -- aren't nourishing our bodies like they should be. What of all the fried potato skins, mac-n-cheese plates, and five-egg omlettes at one-of-a-kind establishments across the city?
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I think it’s a great idea restaurants are being asked to post info. It’s amazing how hard restaurant chains are fighting to hide their nutrition information. It's hard to eat well when eating out, especially when you have dietary needs or want to watch your calorie intake. Often food items that seem healthy and are marketed that way are not. For this reason, my company just launched a new service called ‘Wellternatives’ that lets people find nutrition info for thousands of chain restaurants — right from their cell phone or on the web. It also makes recommendations for a healthier alternative to your favorite restaurant meals, hence the name…Wellternatives. Would love to hear what you think of it! Sara