CONGRATULATIONS to the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association for its efforts in expanding British Columbia's year-old Informed Dining initiative to a national program that expects to be in 12,000 food outlets nation-wide by the end of the year.
Restaurants in the program provide calorie counts for standard menu items, as well as the amount of sugar, salt, fat, fibre, vitamins and other nutrients in each dish. Restaurants can choose how to present that information, but there must be something on the menu that alerts customers to the information and where to find it.
Joining A &W, Little Caesar's and the original 300 B.C. participants in the scheme will be McDonald's, Pizza Hut, Boston Pizza, Tim Hortons, Earls and The Keg.
It remains to be seen whether consumers will modify their eating habits because nutritional information is available at the time of ordering. Study results are mixed.
Of course, the federal government could be a leader instead of just a cheerleader when it comes to nutrition. Health Minister Margaret MacDiarmid acknowledges the initiative will "pay dividends for people's health and health care costs years down the road."
It would appear, then, that our health minister is aware of the evils - and cost - of salt and cholesterol. For instance, cutting salt intake would improve heart health yet Canadians are estimated to consume more than twice the amount of salt recommended by Health Canada.
Yet the federal government continues to abdicate responsibility in mandating safe salt levels in processed foods.
