Don't Let Movie Theaters Hide Their Calorie Counts
It's tough these days to watch what we eat, especially since many of us have busy schedules and are eating out more and more.
To help Americans make smarter food choices, the Food and Drug Administration is working on putting calorie counts and nutrition information on restaurant menus and other businesses--allowing you to decide what works for you.
But now some entities that sell food may get exemptions from having to display calorie counts--most notably movie theaters, which sell buttered tubs of popcorn and oversized cups of soda that can easily exceed the calories of three Big Macs.
We can't make smart choices if we don't know what our choices are. Urge the FDA not to carve out exemptions for giving consumers calorie and nutrition information.
If Americans are to make smarter food choices, we need to know the calorie count and nutritional information of the food we buy, especially while eating out. I support the FDA's proposed regulations regarding calorie labeling for chain restaurants and similar retail food establishments, but I urge the agency to not carve out exemptions for movie theaters.
Movie theaters sell some of the most calorie-laden foods in buttered popcorn, soda and candy. If consumers don't have access to the nutritional information of those foods at the time of sale, they can't make an informed choice.
The FDA draft menu labeling rule applies to restaurants and retail food establishments that are part of a chain with 20 or more locations doing business under the same name and offering substantially the same menu items. That includes bakeries, coffee shops and certain grocery and convenience stores.
(Your Comments Here)
I urge the FDA to include movie theaters in this list and not carve out an exemption for them. Consumers can't make smart food choices if we don't know what our choices are.
