Comment & Debate
Margo G. Wootan, nutrition policy director at the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest, said in 2008 following passage of legislation in California mandating calorie counts on menus: “States and cities are interested in menu labeling because of the growing role that chain food restaurants play in Americans’ diet. Most Americans get a third of their calories from eating out. And, unfortunately, restaurant foods play a very problematic role in our diets.”[1]
Karen Springen. “Full Disclosure”. Newsweek. November 14, 2008: “Kelly Brownell: People are suffering from diet-related diseases like obesity and diabetes in record numbers. And they are eating out more and more. About 50 percent of the food dollar goes to eating outside the home. When people eat outside the home, they eat worse. People really don’t know the calories in the food they’re eating when they do eat out.”