I’m working on a story about the recent New York City menu labeling law. It’s pretty interesting what they’ve done. The Department of Health passed a law that in July all New York City restaurants that as of March 1^st ALREADY have caloric information available to the public will be required to post this information on their menu boards, or menus.  The law, which is great in spirit, is kind of built on strange logic. The law ONLY applies to restaurants that are already providing this information on web sites, and or brochures. Didn’t they think that this would cause some of the chains to simply remove their information from the NY area so they didn’t have to change their menu boards?

Take a look at Wendy's solution. You’re not going to believe this--Wendy’s took the calorie information off their menus in NYC. They took the calories from their posted menu board. This photo was taken from a wall mounted poster in a NYC unit. See the calorie column (the first one) is missing. Shame on Wendy's!

So they did think of that.  Read below. Meanwhile, suspiciously and mysteriously, Blimpe removed their calorie information from their website. Here's what it says when you go to the site: "We're sorry, but our nutritional information is currently unavailable.Please check back soon."  BTW, I called Blimpe public relations department for a comment. They never called back. Shame on Blimpe. Boycott Blimpe and go to Subway, at least they care about their customers. Plus they have the FreshFit menu they just launched. Anyway...

Read the comment below…Also note that this law can be a DISINCENTIVE for any other restaurant to make their calorie information available to the public. Right?  Think about it. If your own a restaurant and thought of making any information available to the general public, but were not sure if you were ready to put in on your menu—you would just skip it. Of course. Bottom line. This is a great law if it sticks (they’re already trying to get it changed in the City Council). It’s a good start. But it needs a bit more thinking, and also NYC should push more restaurants then just the fast food joints to make information available.

DOHMH Response: The food service establishments that would be affected by the proposal are leaders in the restaurant industry. These establishments have determined the nutritional content of products and made information available to the public. Theproposal aims to make this published information as accessible as possible to inform consumer choices.To withhold such information would deprive consumers of a valuable tool for making more informed food choices – a tool that both restaurants and the public agree should be available. It would be a striking development if establishments which had already made nutrition information publicly available withdrew this information rather than making it available where consumers would readily see it. If this were to occur, the Department could explore various means to have this information remain publicly available. Out of concern that food service establishments will withdraw currently available calorie information, the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) recommends a change in the criteria used in identifying establishments that would need to comply with the new proposal, i.e., CSPI suggests that the cut-off date be the date the measure is approved.

The DOHMH believes that the March 1, 2007 date is appropriate, providing sufficient time for establishments to become aware of the new regulations that would apply as a result of making information public. 

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