In the fight against obesity, restaurants should shrink portions, provide more nutritional information and bundle such calorie-laden food as burgers and pizza with healthier side dishes, according to a federally commissioned report to be made public Friday.
The report, requested and funded by the Food and Drug Administration, lays out ways to help consumers manage their intake of calories from restaurants, cafeterias and ready-to-eat meals bought at grocery stores. It does not address school meals.
"As of this decade, Americans are eating away-from-home foods more frequently and consuming more calories from away-from-home establishments than ever before," the report says in making the case for increasing the availability of foods and drinks packed with fewer calories but more nutrients.
The 136-page report prepared by The Keystone Center, a nonprofit policy group, does not explicitly link dining out with the rising tide of obesity, but it does cite numerous studies that suggest there is a connection. It also notes that Americans now consume fully one-third of their daily intake of calories outside the home. And as of 2000, the average American gobbled up and slurped down 300 more calories a day than was the case 15 years earlier, according to Agriculture Department statistics cited in the report.
Today, 64 percent of Americans are overweight, including the 30 percent who are obese, according to the report. It pegs the annual medical cost of the problem at nearly $93 billion.
Consumer advocates increasingly have heaped some of the blame on restaurant chains such as McDonald's. A new children's book and soon-to-be-released movie, both associated with the 2001 book "Fast Food Nation," have kept the issue at the fore.
In response, McDonald's has added entree-sized salads and the option to swap the fries and soft drink in children's meals for apple slices and juice. But when Americans dined out in 2005, the top three menu choices remained hamburgers, french fries and pizza, according to The NPD Group, a market research firm.
Still, restaurants increasingly are offering varied portion sizes, foods made with whole grains, more diet drinks and entree salads to fit the dietary needs of their customers, said Sheila Cohn, director of nutrition policy for the National Restaurant Association. But those restaurants can't make people eat what they don't want to, said Cohn, who contributed to the forum that produced the report. Other participants included government officials, academics and consumer advocates.
"It's really difficult for a restaurant to gauge what a person should be eating. Can you imagine going into a restaurant and the waiter saying, 'Sir, your pants look a little tight today. I have to bring you the fresh fruit plate rather than the chocolate cake for desert'" Cohn said, adding: "It's not really the responsibility of restaurants to restrict the foods that they offer."
The report encourages restaurants to shift the emphasis of their marketing to lower-calorie choices and include more of those options on menus. In addition, restaurants could jigger portion sizes and the variety of foods available in mixed dishes to reduce the overall number of calories taken in by diners.
Bundling meals with more fruits and vegetables also could improve nutrition. And letting consumers know how many calories are contained in a meal also could guide the choices they make, according to the report. Just over half of the nation's 287 largest restaurant chains now make at least some nutrition information available, said Margo Wootan, director of nutrition policy for the Center for Science in the Public Interest.
"If companies don't tell them, people have no way of knowing how many calories they are being served at restaurants. And chances are, they are being served a lot more than they realize," said Wootan, adding that Congress should give the FDA the authority to require such disclosure.
But the report notes that the laboratory work needed to calculate the calorie content of a menu item can cost $100, or anywhere from $11,500 to $46,000 to analyze an entire menu. Cohn said that makes it unfeasible for restaurants, especially when menus can change daily.
An FDA spokesman declined to make agency officials available to discuss the report ahead of a news conference scheduled for Friday.
Representatives of four restaurant chains — including Yum! Brands, the parent company of KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell — who contributed to the report did not return calls seeking comment.
Can somebody please tell me why they would need $100 worth of lab work to calculate the calories in one menu item, when there are dozens of web sites that do it for free?
Originally posted by jillybean: But there are still times when I give in to temptation...
I've also found that the temptation thing has gotten easier as time goes by.
I used to HATE getting a chicken sandwich or dinner salad. I wanted the 2,700 calorie burger/fries/beer EVERY time and I was often mad or resentful or sad about my "diet".
For me, it has gotter much easier. I don't know what flipped in my head... because I don't feel mad or resentment any more.
Denise
Posts: 8693 | Location: Silicon Valley, CA | Registered: March 17, 2004
Originally posted by jillybean: But there are still times when I give in to temptation, especially at Esposito's-this great Italian place that has THE BEST alfredo sauce I have ever eaten. AND their olive oil they serve with the bread has some kind of seasoning in it that is heavenly. A dinner at that place is probably a month of calories but man is it worth it!
We go to a place like that on New Years... Yeah, just give me a loaf of bread and the olive oil... But we don't eat there every week.
The pasta I ate in January was salmon with alfredo... But I don't even remember another alfredo dinner in 3 years.
Denise
Posts: 8693 | Location: Silicon Valley, CA | Registered: March 17, 2004
Originally posted by GoingSkiing: OK... Either I'm eating the wrong places or you people eat like birds. I don't leave half my food EVERY time we eat out. I very seldom leave any food and usually finish it all. And I’m maintaining just fine.
.
Oh I have no trouble finishing a regular adult portion of most restaurant meals. Rarely is there ever anything left over for me to take home. As for my ordering off the kids/senior menu comment in an earlier post, I don't but it is nice for those who want a smaller portion. Quite honestly, dinosaur shaped chicken fingers do not excite me nor do they satisfy my appetite.
Last night we went out(which makes that two restaurant meals this week-only wanted to do one) and my friend and my dd both had wings which I love but I went with the dinner salad and a grilled chicken sandwich(no mayo). When the plate came I immediately removed the chips and ate dd's celery instead. I was full and pretty satisfied with my meal. But there are still times when I give in to temptation, especially at Esposito's-this great Italian place that has THE BEST alfredo sauce I have ever eaten. AND their olive oil they serve with the bread has some kind of seasoning in it that is heavenly. A dinner at that place is probably a month of calories but man is it worth it!
Jill
Summer Challenge Goals: 1) Walk 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week 2) Plan weekly menus
OK... Either I'm eating the wrong places or you people eat like birds. I don't leave half my food EVERY time we eat out. I very seldom leave any food and usually finish it all. And I’m maintaining just fine.
But we only eat out once a week. And we very seldom eat at chains. I've never been to Macaroni's grill. Haven't been to Chevys or Chilis in over a year. Haven't been to Olive Garden since ds was an infant (he's 14 now). I never order pasta out because I can make it at home. Oh wait, did order pasta out in January and it was way too much, but I ate it anyway, and enjoyed it.
The only time I leave half is when I order 2,700 calories worth of bacon, onion, cheddar burger and fries and a beer. And I could finish it... and like once a year... I do.
a) Japanese restaurant - 1 cup of ice berg salad, a cup of miso and the sushi sampler... 9 pieces of sushi. (Do you guys only eat half?)
b) Pub... chicken breast sandwich and a side salad instead of fries (and I do like Bee and pick out the cheese and croutons). I usually eat the whole sandwich or if I’m not that hungry, ds eats the other half for lunch. Or I order soft tacos or veggie quesodillas and I eat all of those myself. I’d be hungry if I didn’t.
c) Chinese restaurant. We've stopped ordering 9 plates of food. We order one appetiser and one entre and rice for the 3 of us.
d) Thai restaurant. Ditto. Ds and I order Pad Thai and one other dish and we finish it. They are not huge platters at this restaurant. They are served on smallish dinner plates.
e) Indian restaurant. A little too much food there. Probably don’t need rice AND chapattis. I think restaurants over serve cheap food like potatoes, rice, pasta…
f)Applebees with my mom - WW menu… right amount of food.
g) Sizzler with mil - shrimp or salmon - baked potato and steamed vegs. Right amount of food.
Can’t forget the Taco Bell 7 Layer burrito and a med diet Pepsi… Right amount of food.
This message has been edited. Last edited by: GoingSkiing,
Denise
Posts: 8693 | Location: Silicon Valley, CA | Registered: March 17, 2004
Originally posted by Bee: Maybe it's because I have the "there are children starving in Africa" guilt still buried in my brain but I often think of what a great donation restaurants could make to local food banks if they scaled down their portion sizes before putting them on the plate and the just gave the surplus away.
Although I do it regularly now, I still think about that every time I leave the majority of meal untouched at a restaurant because it was huge. (I rarely take things home with me in to-go boxes - I don't need the extra calories and sodium more than once unless I know it was a really healthy dish).
Panera Bread donates their leftover bread(not sure about food, like soup and other stuff) to local shelters, I remember reading that on one of their pieces of literature when they first opened.
Jill
Summer Challenge Goals: 1) Walk 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week 2) Plan weekly menus
Maybe it's because I have the "there are children starving in Africa" guilt still buried in my brain but I often think of what a great donation restaurants could make to local food banks if they scaled down their portion sizes before putting them on the plate and the just gave the surplus away.
Although I do it regularly now, I still think about that every time I leave the majority of meal untouched at a restaurant because it was huge. (I rarely take things home with me in to-go boxes - I don't need the extra calories and sodium more than once unless I know it was a really healthy dish).
Out of our beliefs are born deeds; out of our deeds we form habits; out of our habits grows our character; and on our character we build our destiny.
Originally posted by GoingSkiing: I just remembered...
I have seen one portion size go down. The Mexican stand I go to... they have one "restaurant" and a Taco Truck...
The size of their burritos have gone down a little. I'm not sure, but I think that it has to do with gas prices. Their food costs may have gone up. Or rent. I'm speculating that they had to choose between making the portions a little smaller or raise prices...
I did notice the food got smaller... but the price stayed the same.
I don't think that it was driven by calories...
I think portion sizes are way too big in most places I go to. Where I work, our pasta dishes are huge, no one ever finishes them. Our steak and seafood dishes are a nice size(most likely because they cost the restaurant more so they are not going to serve more scallops or shrimp than they need to). I think most people are aware that what they are eating is more than a serving but figure that since it was served to them it is ok to eat it all. It is nice to be able to order off the kids menu or senior menu but I know some places don't allow it unless of course you are a kid or senior.
Jill
Summer Challenge Goals: 1) Walk 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week 2) Plan weekly menus
I have seen one portion size go down. The Mexican stand I go to... they have one "restaurant" and a Taco Truck...
The size of their burritos have gone down a little. I'm not sure, but I think that it has to do with gas prices. Their food costs may have gone up. Or rent. I'm speculating that they had to choose between making the portions a little smaller or raise prices...
I did notice the food got smaller... but the price stayed the same.
I don't think that it was driven by calories...
Denise
Posts: 8693 | Location: Silicon Valley, CA | Registered: March 17, 2004
Originally posted by SheriaVa: Not many places I eat at have a senior menu, but I HAVE ordered off the kid's menu.
dh orders off the kids menu. It is still a lot of calories and isn't healthy. Grilled cheese and fries. Or Fish and Chips. He seldom gets flack.
Actually the restaurants we go to, like the Brewrey... I know the different menu items.
The chicken soft tacos is a smaller item and IS the right amount of food. The burrito is more... but they kind of advertise it as more... and they charge more.
The dinner/entre salads are the right size for me.
The meals like "grilled salmon" or "grilled chick brest" ARE the right sizes usually... or close to it. I might take half of the meat home, but for my son it would be a normal portion.
And if you get the mixed grill... with 4 kinds of meat... well common sense would tell you that it might be a lot of food.
And it is possible to get burger with no cheese or bacon, etc. It is even possible to get a veggie burger.
OK... but if I CHOSE to have the cheese bacon guac burger... and fries... I'm leaving half behind... usually. But once in a great while I eat the whole thing. MY choice.
When I've been in weight loss mode I've ALWAYS been able to figure a way to eat out. We eat out once or twice a week. NOT every day.
If you think of WW'ers... people have anywhere from 5-15 points for dinner. Restaurants have no moral obligation to offer every menu item in 6 different sizes to accomodate different sizes of people and caloric needs.
Denise
Posts: 8693 | Location: Silicon Valley, CA | Registered: March 17, 2004
Sherrie, thanks for supporting the idea of asking for what you want. You did and you got it. That's all I am really saying. If you want something other than what appears on the menu, ask, you might just be surprised how accomodating the restaurant can be. AND if you dine when the main crowd isn't there you are more likely to get your needs met. During the rush, it is harder to accomodate those needs, but it never hurt to ask.
It's never too late to get it right.
Posts: 3473 | Location: Central USA | Registered: March 11, 2004
Originally posted by GoingSkiing: Not going to happen... somebody on the WW boards said she is 30something and orders off the senior menu all the time... I'm going to try it sometime. Worst that will happen is they will say no, right?
Not many places I eat at have a senior menu, but I HAVE ordered off the kid's menu. Some places are hard-line about "no one under 12" ordering off the kid's menu...other places are cool about it. I get the kid's rib basket at Chili's (which isn't even on the menu) when I'm in the mood for ribs because it's just a half-rack of ribs with a few fries in a little basket which is JUST enough. Then I don't have to have that whole inner turmoil about whether to take the rest of the meal home or leave it behind or throw it in the trash (like I did with the other half of my burger and fries last Friday).
The only reason I even KNOW about the kid's rib basket is that I once remarked to a server years ago that I was in the mood for ribs but wished there was a smaller serving option--he told me about the kid's rib basket and that was all she wrote. Occasionally, I get a little resistance from new servers when I order something that isn't on the menu, but when I tell them I've been ordering it for years, they take my word for it and apparently don't get any trouble about it in the kitchen because I always get my ribs.
Romano's Macaroni Grill offers a smaller lunch portion (I think you have to ask for it, though--I don't think you get it automatically just because you're ordering at lunchtime). It is still large but at least not a meal that would feed a family of four like the dinner portion.
Personal Healthy Habits Challenge - 10/1 to 12/31/08: 1. Exercise: Get back to consistently working out 3-5 X week. 2. Food: Get back to consistently preparing healthy lunches for the week with increased veg servings. 3. Behavior: Reduce intake of sweets.
Posts: 7319 | Location: Rehoboth Beach, DE | Registered: March 12, 2004
Originally posted by Sheltieguy: As a start, I just wish that all restaurants would offer the option of rational portion sizes.
LOL!!! You want us to come to agreement about what rational is?
Rational serving for someone who digs ditches and weighs 220 lbs?
Rational serving for me?
Rational serving for my teenage son?
Not going to happen... somebody on the WW boards said she is 30something and orders off the senior menu all the time... I'm going to try it sometime. Worst that will happen is they will say no, right?
Denise
Posts: 8693 | Location: Silicon Valley, CA | Registered: March 17, 2004
Originally posted by SheriaVa: LOL!!!!! I'm laughing at the image it conjures but, yes, I can definitely see that that COULD be the reality!
No offence to any present or past restaurant employees...
But most of the places I've worked (and my brother and sister, too) seemed to have a very high rate of alcoholism...
How do you say to a customer, "OK, the entire kitchen is hung over REAL bad right now, and the food that is on the menu isn't coming out all that pretty. I don't have high hopes for special orders right now..."
Or, "The head cook that speaks English isn't here right now. Do you speak Thai by any chance?... No, I don't think they speak Italian. Yes, I know this is an Italian restaurant but everyone in the kitchen is from Thailand..."
One of the mom's who used to be in my baby play group was sort of like that elderly couple. We'd go out to eat and I was just horrified to be seen at the table with her. She'd insist on the chicken and pasta with no cream sauce and then complain that the chicken and pasta were dry. She used to send lunch back multiple times.
This was at a Denny's kind of restaurant and we were paying $7 for lunch. Sometimes you are just better off to get the turkey sandwich and scraping the extra mayo off.
In a way, it is sort of interesting, because most of the moms I spent time with where a healthy weight. We just ordered off the menu with "normal" accommodations like side salad instead of fries and dressing on the side. And granted Elaine was overweight and trying lose it... and she went thru all of these embarrassing gyrations EVERY week. And then she would get mad and say the service was slow (well, when you send your lunch back 3 times...) and the food was awful and wouldn't leave a tip.
Actually, thin people have been figuring out how to eat out and not gain weight for a while now. OK, they/we don’t eat 30% of their meals out…
But even 75 years ago, there were restaurants where you knew you were going to eat more calories - "greasy spoons" or "diners". People may not have been really aware of calories. They weren't really well educated in nutrition. But we all know intuitively when you are eating “junk food”, I think.
I go out to eat with thin people all the time (well not ALL the time, like 12 times a year). They don't obsess about the nutrition information. They order sensibly off the menu and don't finish it if they are full. And sometime thin people don’t always order sensibly… but some how they manage to balance the calories in and calories out.
And I know WW’ers who REFUSE to eat in any restaurant where they can’t look up the nutrition info and calculate the points. How sad… to be limited to chain restaurants like Applebee’s.
Also, somebody from CSPI is quoted in the article. Sheltie has called them "The Food Police". They put out a lot of good information, but it does sort of seem like a case of the food police wanting to enforce good eating and save overweight people from ourselves. It is kind of condescending in a way, that I really can’t put into words…
When I ate fast food 10 times a week. I knew it was bad, and I did it anyway. They can’t legislate away bad habits or force me to make smarter choices.
Every person has to hear that little click inside their own head that says, “I can’t do this anymore. I need to change.”
Denise
Posts: 8693 | Location: Silicon Valley, CA | Registered: March 17, 2004
Originally posted by GoingSkiing: I worked in restaurants where really the honest answer would be to say to customer, "Really, if you want this order cooked this way... you want to come back on Tuesday, when Bob is back there. Right now Earl is on the line, and he is one mean bastard and pretty much hates me and all of humanity... And we’ll just both be better off if we decide that this special order just isn't happening today, OK?"
LOL!!!!! I'm laughing at the image it conjures but, yes, I can definitely see that that COULD be the reality!
Today, where I was having lunch, there was an elderly couple sitting next to me (very close, since the restaurant was packed). They wanted to order some pasta & chicken dish with cream sauce. They told the stressed-out waitress they wanted it without cream sauce. She gave an exasperated sigh and then said "Well, it wouldn't be chicken & pasta without the cream sauce!" and then, when the couple said they'd take the salmon if she couldn't leave off the cream sauce, the waitress said "I really think the salmon is better because you wouldn't be happy with the chicken & pasta without the cream sauce." Personally, I think it's up to the customer to decide if they'd be happy without the sauce, but I appreciated that she was basically telling them that the sauce makes the dish and, without it, it wouldn't be very enjoyable.
Posts: 7319 | Location: Rehoboth Beach, DE | Registered: March 12, 2004
Originally posted by jillybean: I work in a restaurant-we try very hard to accomodate special requests but once I drop off the order in the kitchen that is out of my hands-same for the customer.
I worked in restaurants where really the honest answer would be to say to customer, "Really, if you want this order cooked this way... you want to come back on Tuesday, when Bob is back there. Right now Earl is on the line, and he is one mean bastard and pretty much hates me and all of humanity... And we’ll just both be better off if we decide that this special order just isn't happening today, OK?"
I worked in restaurants from the age of 16-30... I worked in the back. And worked as a waitress. I know I served people full fat dressing who didn’t want it because when I got back in the kitchen we were out of the low fat or the guy that was supposed to make the low fat didn’t show up for work and I was on my second job and 15th hour of work and was making $3something an hour and I had 8 tables of people and was running and sweating ... And I wasn’t walking back and forth across the dinning room 3 more times (because 2 other tables would be waving at me and yelling, “Miss!!! Miss!!”) to tell some grouch with 17 special requests that we were out of low fat Ranch and ask what was her second choice and then come back and make her salad… so I dumped what ever dressing was back there on her salad and served it to her. Oh and I was 19 and stupid.
What goes around, comes around and I know the same has been done to me…
Denise
Posts: 8693 | Location: Silicon Valley, CA | Registered: March 17, 2004
I still believe that when you eat out, YOU are responsible for putting what food you choose in your mouth. The amount, the price are not up to you. BUT what you do with that food and how it is prepared CAN be up to you. I have yet to walk into any restaurant and be told NO I can't eat there because I want my food fixed in a certain way; and we eat out a lot for business reasons and pleasure. I have yet to be refused a to=go box. I do my homework on the places that we might be eating, I choose wisely and plan ahead with meals I have already eaten. Yes it's a pain, but I believe that we are making in roads in the restaurant industry as far as healthy food, but you have to be polite, kind and not demanding.
Ultimately, yes, we are responsible for our choices. We can ask and the server can agree but we still have no idea what is actually going into our food. Unless we are back there watching the process we still don't know if they are in fact steaming, broiling, etc. I would hope that there is a really great, honest person in the back who will make what I asked for but who knows. I work in a restaurant-we try very hard to accomodate special requests but once I drop off the order in the kitchen that is out of my hands-same for the customer.
In chain restaurants and fast food, much of the food is prepared in advance, not cooked to order so there is very little control available there. I do like smaller, non-chain restaurants. There is a much better chance for "customizing" food. I think that when going out for dinner we have to plan on extra calories, even if we ask for things to be prepared not using excess oil, salt, etc. chances are it is still much higher than what we would make at home.
I love to go out and eat but have really limited myself because no matter how good my choices are I have better control of fat/calories when i cook my own food and know exactly what is going in. Jill
Summer Challenge Goals: 1) Walk 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week 2) Plan weekly menus
I thought the article to be VERY fair to the restaurant industry. It basically covered all the reasons why you can't legislate healthier eating, and the responsibility isn't with the restaurants or the government.
At this point, I think that fast food, (and most restaurant meals... especially chain restaurants) are sort like cigarettes. There isn't a person in the US or Canada who believes that a Whooper with cheese and a large soda is a healthy choice. We have a mom at our school who grew up on a reservation and has about a 6th grade education and she'll say, "I shouldn't be eating this..." as we are eating Krispy Kreams in the teachers lounge.
I just can't believe that more and more information and education and more nutrition labels are going to fix things. There are labels on the Ben and Jerry's and we still eat it. I used to eat 4 servings of it... a full pint. I knew it was like 800 calories... I still ate it.
How long have the "Brand Name" calorie counting books been around? Since like 1965 or something? How much more information do we all need?
If the nutrition info is available and you look it up after you get home, and then fall over, that is self imposed denial... And every single one of us has learned that lesson the hard way. There are about 3 million people on WW who learn that lesson the hard way every year. The information is out there. If we chose to eat first, and look up the information second... OK... we deserve what we get.
But, I don't even think Americans are really in all that much denial. I doubt most American's are even trying to make a healthier choice. When they/we go out, they/we order burgers and pizza. I don't think that there is a lot of denial... It is just that disconnect between having the information and knowing what to do... and then choosing not to do it.
We'd have Oprah money if we could figure out how to get people to act on the health knowledge we already have.
This message has been edited. Last edited by: GoingSkiing,
Denise
Posts: 8693 | Location: Silicon Valley, CA | Registered: March 17, 2004
