B.C. restaurants to help families make informed choices
The B.C. restaurant industry is partnering with the Province to provide restaurant customers with the information they need to make the healthy choice the easy choice.
The $1.9-million Healthy Families BC – Informed Dining program will give customers the information they need to make healthier choices when eating out.
Participating restaurants will add the Informed Dining program logo and a statement on their menu or menu board, letting customers know that nutrition information for all standard menu items is available upon request.
Restaurants will provide nutrition information (similar to what is currently found on packaged foods) before or at the point of ordering in the restaurant. Information may be provided on a brochure, a menu insert or poster.
Calorie and sodium content will be highlighted, and restaurants must also include information on daily sodium and calorie requirements. Customers will then be able to make informed choices when choosing meals for themselves or their children.
It is estimated that Canadians currently purchase one in 10 meals or snacks from a restaurant. By providing nutrition information in restaurants, customers can make decisions that will help to promote healthy weights and prevent high blood pressure and chronic illnesses such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancer.
Quick facts
- According to the BCRFA, there are about 12,000 restaurants in British Columbia.
- Nutrition labelling of pre-packaged food is already regulated by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
- Cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancer are estimated to cost our health-care system between $730 million and $830 million per year.
- Reducing sodium intake could prevent up to 23,500 cardiovascular events such as heart attack and stroke per year, and could generate direct savings of $1.38 billion annually.
- The Canadian Council of Food and Nutrition reported that in 2006, of all the money spent on food in Canada, 40 per cent is spent in food service outlets.
- People who eat more sodium than needed are at greater risk from high blood pressure, which is a major risk factor for stroke, heart disease and kidney disease.
- British Columbians consume more than double the amount of sodium considered adequate to promote good health in B.C., as recommended by Health Canada.
- Nutrition information disclosure in restaurants and food services is one of the key recommendations from the Sodium Working Group report, Sodium Reduction Strategy for Canada, and the Public Health Agency of Canada report, Curbing Childhood Obesity: A Federal, Provincial and Territorial Framework for Action to Promote Healthy Weights.
