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Denying the consumer’s right to know Experts believe New York City’s new rules will directly translate into improving public health and saving lives. People’s buying choices are impacted when they can readily access caloric information, according to the New York City Department of Health. Nearly three quarters of consumers say they look at calorie information on packaged foods in supermarkets, and about half say that nutrition information affects their food selections. The Health Department estimates that this regulation could reduce the number of people who suffer from obesity by 150,000 over the next five years, preventing more than 30,000 cases of diabetes. [1] The trans fat fib Corporate snapshot Evasion, public relations and litigation New York City first passed its rules in 2006, and they were to take effect in July 2007. Wendy’s responded by exploiting a legal loophole to make them exempt from the rules. How did they do it? By removing from their restaurants all of the nutritional information they had already been displaying![4] Strange, indeed, but that’s why they pay their lawyers the big bucks. Meanwhile, Wendy’s trade association, the New York State Restaurant Association, filed a lawsuit to block New York City’s rules and won. But the city didn’t give up. In January 2008, it tweaked the rules to satisfy the courts. Restaurant chains with more than 15 units – Wendy’s included – must now comply with the revised rules by March 31, 2008. [5] Wendy’s also isn’t giving up. They now complain that the rules are unworkable given the complexity of their menu.[6] What if a person doesn’t want ketchup with their fries? What if they choose one salad dressing instead of another? How can their menu possibly represent all of the caloric permutations? Wendy’s website also argues, “listing a single number of calories next to each product will be misleading. Even a range of numbers can be confusing, since the range is too broad to have real meaning.” Really? Won’t people know that a range of 300-600 is worse than 100-300? Wendy’s will indeed need to figure out how exactly to comply. Wendy’s, however, has not, and apparently will not, act in good faith. It’s clear they have no financial interest in reminding their customers that their food is fattening. Take action Visit their website to take action: http://www.cspinet.org/. [1] New York City Department of Health. Press Release: “Board of Health Votes to Require Chain Restaurants to Display Calories Information in New York City.” January 22, 2008. http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/pr2008/pr008-08.shtml
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