Food Fight!: The Legal Debate Over The Obesity Epidemic, Food Labeling, And The Government's Involvement In What You Eat
NUTRITION MENU LABELING LAWS AND PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY
There is no question that Americans continue to get fatter and fatter. In fact, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, over 34.2% of US adults aged twenty years and over are overweight, 33.8% are considered obese, and 5.7% are extremely obese. Combining these figures show that nearly three-quarters of the US adult population are either overweight or obese. These statistics are even more alarming when considering that over the past twenty years the obesity rate as increased by nearly 50%, and has increased over 250% since 1960. Moreover, research has shown that being overweight or obese leads to plethora of health complications including: coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes, cancers (endometrial, breast, and colon), hypertension (high blood pressure), dyslipidemia (for example, high total cholesterol or high levels of triglycerides), stroke, liver and gallbladder disease, sleep apnea and respiratory problems, osteoarthritis (a degeneration of cartilage and its underlying bone within a joint) and gynecological problems (abnormal menses, infertility) among others. Efforts to combat this epidemic has lead many local and state governments to enact laws mandating that nutritional disclosures on restaurant menus. These mandates will now become federal law in 2014 with the recent passage of the Protection and Affordable Care Act, colloquially known as Obama Care.
I should preface that I might be classified as your stereotypical “health and fitness junkie.” For example, I maintain a very strict and lean diet, it is second nature for me to look at a restaurant’s nutritional menu, and I exercise six days a week. Because of this, one might assume that I would whole heartedly embrace a government mandate that restaurants provide nutritional information on its menus. However, this mandate raises two very important questions of whether nutritional disclosure laws are an effective means to reducing the obesity epidemic, and whether government has any business meddling in the affairs of private transactions.
In March 2008, New York City adopted Regulation 81.50, the nation’s first menu labeling law. Since its adoption, there have been two more prominent studies that tested the effectiveness of New York City’s Regulation 81.50. One study was conducted by researches from New York University and Yale University, and the other by researchers from Stanford University. These two studies. , However, these studies came back with with inconsistent results, and since other menu labeling laws are still in their infancy, there is little direct statistical data available that proves or disproves whether these laws have any meaningful impact on weight loss.
Proponents of menu labeling laws argue that consumers will reduce the number of calories they consume if nutritional information was more readily available at the point of purchase. This was the same argument proponents used to support passing the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act in 1990. The NLEA gave the FDA authority to require nutritional labeling on all foods packaged and sold. However, since its passage, data over the past twenty years indicates that obesity rates have risen nearly 50%.
Because the rationale in support of both laws are virtually the same, this data is a meaningful predictor of whether menu labeling laws will actually help curb our obesity epidemic. Certainly, the statistics do not leave room for much optimism.
If we as a citizenry want our state or federal government to mandate that restaurants provide nutritional information for their patrons, we must ask ourselves whether this conforms with our notions of individual liberty, free markets and freedom from government intrusion in our personal lives. There are some who argue that menu label laws are consistent with free market principles because these laws provide greater information to consumers, which is a component of a free market. However, the free flow of information is only one component of free markets and cannot be looked at in a vacuum. In a true free market economy, the law of supply and demand are all that is needed to encourage restaurants to provide nutritional information or leave the option for patrons to dine elsewhere. Since neither party is forced to transact with each other, there will be opportunities for other producers to meet the demands of the consumer.
The real problem is not that consumers lack access to nutritional information, but that our nation as a whole lacks discipline, motivation and personal responsibility. In reality, relying on the government to find a solution will only exacerbate the problem because the government’s solution primarily blames the fast food industry and restaurants for our epidemic. This pervasive message drowns out the real fact that the solution rests solely within ourselves as individuals. The obesity trend will only continue to rise until individuals begin to take personal responsibility for their own weight gain and stop shifting the blame.
SOURCES:
Cynthia L. Ogden et al., Ctrs. For Disease Control and Prevention, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey: Obesity Among Adults in the United States, available at http://www.cdc.gov/NCHS/data/hestat/obesity_adult_07_08/obesity_adult_07_08.pdf
Clinical Guidelines on the Identification, Evaluation, and Treatment of Overweight and Obesity in Adults, available at http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/causes/health.html
See Center for Science in the Public Interest, State and Local Menu Labeling Policies, http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/ml_map.pdf (last visited Apr. 4, 2010)
§4205, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, H.R. 3590 / Pub. L. No. 111-148, 124 Stat. 119 (2010).
N.Y. City Bd. Of Health, Notice of Adoption of a Resolution to Repeal and Reenact §81.50 of the New York City Health Code at 1 (Jan. 2008), available at http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/downloads/pdf/public/notice-adoption-hc-art81-50-0108.pdf (last visited October 14, 2011).
Brian Elbel et al., Calorie Labeling and Food Choices: A First Look at the Effects on Low-Income People in New York City, 28 HEALTH AFFAIRS (Web Exclusive) w1110, w1110-w1121 (Oct. 6, 2009).
Bryan Bollinger et al., Calorie Posting in Chain Restaurants 1-2 (Nat’l Bureau of Econ. Research, Working Paper No. 15648, 2010).
See Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 1990, Pub. L. No. 101-535, 104 Stat. 2353-56 (codified at 21 U.S.C. § 343(q)(1)(C)-(D) (2000)).
Cynthia L. Ogden et al., Ctrs. For Disease Control and Prevention, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey: Obesity Among Adults in the United States, available at http://www.cdc.gov/NCHS/data/hestat/obesity_adult_07_08/obesity_adult_07_08.pdf
COMMENTS
I appreciate your comments Lauren:
Your comment "the majority of our nation doesn't understand what the nutritional information means" is certain a problem. And my statement, "our nation as a whole lacks discipline, motivation and personal responsibility" gives a reason, among other things, for why people are uneducated when it comes the foods they eat. Or citzenary lacks the "motivation, personal responsibility, and fail to take the intitiative to learn about healthy eating habits. With the plethora of available resources and information there are no excuses for people to not understand what they put into their bodies. Thus putting nutrition labels on menus will do nothing until people become motivated to change, and part of the change means educating themselves (whether it be through a dietician, personal trainer, or self research) in the area of health and nutrition.
I agree that forcing the fast food industry to bear the burden of our health problems seems a little useless and like money down the drain. Even if people do not actually understand HOW bad fast food may be, and the names of the medical problems obesity can cause, I think it IS common knowledge that fast food is not a healthy choice. Even if they arent aware that fast food is bad for you, once they start gaining weight and experiencing health problems, why doesnt that raise a red flag as to some of their life choices? It just seems like if the government wants to "blame" the fast food industry, there are different things the government can do than making the fast food industry throw money away on posting the nutritional information on everything. Money could be put toward health programs in schools, etc. It just seems sad that the government has to get involved. We are a country of supply and demand, and until we as a country demand better food and treatment, there is no reason why we should get it!
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I agree with you that the government requiring restaurants to put the nutritional information on their menus is a step in the right direction, I think that your statement that "our nation as a whole lacks discipline, motivation and personal responsibility" ignores one essential factor. This is that the majority of our nation doesn't understand what the nutritional information means. Of course I agree that for those who understand the nuances of the nutritional information and choose to ignore it, might like discipline, I would like to point out that many people are seriously ignorant when it comes to what those nutritional facts actually mean. For example, the majority of nutritional information that can be found on products or menus is based on a 2000 calorie a day diet. Thus, all the percentages that are shown on the products are extremely misleading to the large percentage of the population, mostly women, who should not be adhering to a 2000 calorie a day diet. For a female such as myself, who exercises moderately, and is 5'2'', the suggested daily calorie intake is 1200 calories. This is almost half of the calories that companies use to compute their information on their products. Thus, I know, that if a product says that it is 200 calories, while that is only 10% of a 2000 diet, it is 16% of my daily calorie intake. I feel that many people do not realize that calorie intake is not uniform, and thus the regulations requiring this nutrition information on menus misleads people who do not realize that the information does not apply universally.