Not everyone is dieting to lose weight, but when they go out to eat, they face a lot of nutritional snafus that would otherwise be known when cooking at home. A pasta cream sauce, a breaded-and-fried meat dish, or even a salad dressing can be a huge gamble to one’s overall health, let alone to those who are on strict health diets. Those working in the food industry are notorious for adding extra butter and otherwise unwanted calories for the sake of enhancing a food’s flavor. A study reported by the Orlando Sentinel found that expert dietitians miscalculated calorie counts of restaurant entrees by 200-600 calories per item! With overweight population percentages approaching 70 percent in the USA, lawmakers and food industry veterans alike are at a loss if disclosing caloric information effects consumer behavior, but this rift in opinion is precisely at the core of a new food lawmaking fight.
Photo: L.A. Times
The issue is so deep, it has made it all the way to Congress, where today’s L.A. Times’ report says that lawmakers are bickering whether or not to centralize a bill that would hold restaurant chains with 20 establishments or more responsible for listing nutrition information. If passed, writes the Times, local governments would still be able to pass their own laws for single restaurants and smaller chains.
However, the larger restaurant chains feel attacked that smaller establishments would not be held to the same criteria. “A pizza is a pizza no matter where it is purchased,” said Steve Carley, chief executive of El Pollo Loco, the Costa Mesa chicken chain. “If this is truly about nutrition and obesity, it is intellectually dishonest to have some restaurants disclose nutritional information and others not.”
Whether the law passes or not, for the health-conscious choosing to enter the catering or restaurant career world, you’ll only become even more vigilant about health and overall consumption (a previous My Colleges & Careers post explains this concept further).
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