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Theaters to be required to post calorie counts
posted by
CSWalczak
on
September 20, 2010 at 3:45 pm
NEW YORK, NY – As if the prices at the snack bar are not enough to scare you these days, the FDA is finalizing new requirements that would require chains of more than twenty theaters to post the caloric content of the food and snacks they serve.
The expansion stems from provisions in the health-care overhaul enacted in March. The government wants calorie listings posted to make it easier for consumers to select healthier options, and the restaurant industry backed the move so it could avoid a patchwork of local ordinances that are developing.
So far, the expansion of the calorie counts beyond restaurants has drawn praise from nutrition advocates but push-back from industries that say the original legislation was never intended to hit them.
There is more in the Wall Street Journal.
Comments (13)
This is good news for moviegoers who want to watch what they eat at the movies. Yankee Stadium (the year old one) has been doing this from the beginning, as well as other sports venues in the nation.
It’s an idiotic idea – these are snack foods.
Another government intrusion.
Oh shut up with the whole “government intrusion” thing! I think it’s a great idea. Don’t you think the public has a right to know what they are eating? No one’s saying you can’t order megatubs of popcorn and buckets of pop. And you are certainly free to ignore the calorie counts if you want to.
Man, do you people sleep with your little foil hats on too?
you don’t think that is government intrusion?
I don’t think it’s government intrusion. Look at the back of any food package you might purchase and you’ll see the same thing spelled out. Those of us who have diabetes and other health issues welcome this kind of disclosure.
I think it is a good idea because people and and need to get better at making dietary choices. But there needs to be fairly easy ways for theaters (or restaurants if it comes to that) to easily find that information and be able to communicate it to their customers. It shouldn’t be a big deal so long as it isn’t a lot of effort for the theater to provide that information. Years down the road, customers may ask theaters for healthier choices. If that improves the enjoyment of the theater customer, I’m all for it.
Thank you Scott.
Anyone company that sells food items at more than 10 stores nationally in New York City, including cinemas, are required to post calorie counts on the menu boards. I don’t think its government intrusion to require a company to produce information the vender should have on hand anyway. Why should this be secretive?
I know at Starbucks they offer a brochure with Nutrition Facts. This requirement simply makes it so that consumers can have more access to information, accordingly I saw a press release from Regal that they soon going to offer a “100 Cal” snack pack with a small popcorn and Coke Zero at their concession stands. I think that’s a creative approach to offering more choice.
I see a lot of films, at least twice a week I have popcorn and soda. I might downgrade to a smaller size when I figure how long on a treadmill it’ll take to burn off that consumption. The regulation makes it so that customers can see what is already known so you know exsactly what you are purchasing? Are you also against labeling ingredients on food packaging? Is it government intrusion to require this information be clear and in easy to understand language so that if you have an allergy you can avoid it?
Trolleyguy…from your post I take it you have diabetes…So being responsible for your health, you should know that movie theater snack foods might not be good for you.
Will it ever End.Big Government worrying about what folks munch on.Don’t we have bigger problems.
John,
I have diabetes too. I’m a type-1 diabetic. Those of us who are type-1s can have snacks such as popcorn, candy, etc. Wouldn’t knowing the amount of sugars and carbs in these be very beneficial?
Mike Rogers, any idiot can tell you the difference between government intrusion and consumer protection. Clearly you don’t know anyone who’s diabetic or has severe food allergies. If you or someone you knew, for example, had peanut allergies, wouldn’t you want to know if any theatre snack foods have peanuts, peanut oils, etc in them?
These regulations have nothing to do with your right to eat these foods. No one’s saying you can’t have them. All these regs do is require theatres to inform customers what is in their foods so the consumer may make an informed choice.
Oh, one other thing, ever since ingredient and nutritional information were required to be on food labels, it sure has made my life as a type-1 diabetic much easier.