California To Post Calorie Counts
Posted by Susie Kopecky on Oct 5, 2008 - 11:30:39 PM
STATEWIDE—Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has taken one more step to promote an agenda of health. On Tuesday, September 30, Schwarzenegger signed the legislation into law while in Sacramento. The governor of California signed into law the bill titled SB 1420, which requires that all restaurants and food providers with 20 or more locations throughout the state must start providing caloric information to their customers. The law is credited to Alex Padilla, a California representative from Los Angeles. The hallmark of this legislation will be enforced by January 1, 2011, at which point all heretofore mentioned restaurants must list nutrition information on their menus and must construct visible reminders of calorie counts within the building.
Governor Schwarzenegger said that "this legislation will help Californians make more informed, healthier choices by making calorie information easily accessible at thousands of restaurants throughout our state. By being the first state to provide this information to consumers, California is continuing to lead the nation with programs and policies that promote health and nutrition."
According to the Office of the Governor, the purpose of this new legislation is to "...preempt[s] local ordinances in order to create a uniform statewide standard for displaying nutritional information instead of a patchwork of local ordinances, although nothing in the bill would prevent a restaurant from providing additional information if they so choose."
In late July, the City of West Hollywood voted to support SB 1420; however, in the West Hollywood supported-version, all chains with "15 or more locations" would need to list caloric information. It was also noted on the city website, that the city hopes "this law would help reduce calorie consumption by providing a means of comparing the quantity of calories among the different menu items available." New York also has a similar measure, which was put into action in late April of this year. Per regulations, restaurants affected by this new mandate must start providing customers with brochures listing the nutritional facts of the foodstuffs sold at said restaurants, by July 1, 2009, according to a statement released by the Office of the Governor. According to Thecaloriecounter.com, a typical serving of 8-9 onion rings contains about 276 calories, a plain, one serving of sausage and pepperoni Stouffer's French Bread Pizza contains 448 calories and a hamburger (one patty) at a fast food restaurant contains an average of 275 calories; however, make that a large, double-patty cheeseburger with vegetables and condiments, and the calorie count could climb up closer to 704 calories and 43.7 grams of fat.
This is not the first time the governor has gotten involved in health-related matters. Under President George H.W. Bush, Arnold Schwarzenegger was the chairman of the President's Council on Fitness. Schwarzenegger was a body-builder, and before his tenure as the governor of California, was a popular movie star, in such hits as "Kindergarten Cop" and "True Lies."
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