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Fast-Food Info Removed
Hiding calorie count is becoming a major problem for companies who
seemingly are ashamed of their avoidance of good health practices, since
calorie counting strictly regulates consumption, and directly affects
corporate profitability.
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3 U.S. fast-food chains take calorie info off Internet
5 March 2007 - chinaview.cn
BEIJING, March 5 (Xinhuanet) -- In an action that will
make it more difficult for New Yorkers to know the calorie content of
their hamburgers, subs and fries, U.S. fast-food chains Quiznos,
Wendy's and White Castle have removed nutritional information from
some restaurants on their websites to avoid posting it on menus in the
Big Apple.
The move was a response to a new regulation that will make the city
the first in the country to require restaurants to list calorie counts
next to the price on their menu boards.
In an attempt to make the rule applicable only to big, national
fast-food chains, health officials said the regulation would apply
only to restaurants that were already making calorie information
available voluntarily.
Restaurants objected, saying the rule would clutter menu boards with
health data already available elsewhere and shut down their websites
prior to the March 1 deadline.
Wendy's International Inc. pulled all information on calories from
posters and fliers at its New York eateries. Quiznos and White Castle
deactivated the pages on their website that offered all types of
nutritional information.
"We fully support the intent of this regulation," Wendy's said in a
statement on its website. "However, since most of our food is
made-to-order, there isn't enough room on our existing menu boards to
comply with the regulation."
White Castle executives did not return phone calls Friday, but the
company's marketing director, Jamie Richardson, told The New York Sun
the company removed nutritional posters and brochures from New York
restaurants as a temporary defensive measure.
"We wanted to allow ourselves as much flexibility as possible and
ultimately work through a solution that is as customer-friendly as
possible," Richardson said.
Quiznos said in a statement its change was also temporary, pending the
company's development of a "long-term nutritional information
strategy." "Quiznos recognizes that nutrition is an important
topic in our health-conscious society and that the recent New York
City Board of Health amendments point to a growing trend that we need
to address," the company said.
The changes brought a tart response from Health Commissioner Thomas
Frieden.
"If some restaurants stop displaying calorie information to avoid
making it useful to customers, we should wonder what they're so
ashamed of," he said in a statement.
In the meantime, Wendy's said it had replaced its old nutritional
information posters with new ones that still provide nutritional
information on fats, carbohydrates and sugars, but leave out calorie
counts.
New Yorkers who still want the full scoop on Wendy's burgers can check
the company's website, which still had the info up Friday.
(Agencies)
Editor: Gareth Dodd |
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A synopsis of the first 5 hours in the series Planet Earth.
Read more
On the dark side of human nature.. [PDF]
Reasons
Logical Explanations
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