Page 1381 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 6 April 2011
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Reducing the rate of obesity in the ACT population will require a long-term commitment from all aspects of our community, be it the government, the private sector or the individual. It will require an integrated approach.
My bill is one part of that strategy and proposes that the ACT adopt the recently introduced New South Wales scheme and require large fast-food chains to display the energy content of their food items on their menu boards.
Foods eaten away from home have been shown to contain more kilojoules or calories per serve and to be of a larger portion size than meals prepared at home. The frequency someone eats out of home is related to weight status, with studies showing frequent fast-food consumption is associated with weight gain over time. Consumers considerably underestimate the kilojoules, salt and fat content of the foods.
This lack of knowledge and understanding of the nutritional value of foods prepared and served away from home means that many people who eat fast food regularly do not consider the impact this may have on their overall diet and long-term disease risk.
In Australia, the food service industry has voluntarily started providing some nutrition information, including daily intake percentages, to consumers via company websites and in-store pamphlets. However, evidence suggests that consumers are more likely to notice nutrition information if it is on the menu or menu board.
The key objective of the Greens’ bill is to provide clear and simple information to consumers about the food they are purchasing, so that they can make more informed decisions about whether to go ahead with a purchase. Knowing the kilojoule content can also affect the decision a person makes about what to eat later in the day. Some fast foods are quite obvious in their high energy content, be it a burger and fries or a soft drink. But others are deceptive and may appear healthy to people, when in fact the opposite is true. Take, for example, a blueberry muffin that can have just as many kilojoules as a burger, and so too can a fruit smoothie or a veggie burger.
Men tend to be less conscious about energy content, but the legislation is expected to have an impact on mothers with children and women generally, who would be quite surprised by the energy content of some of the healthy food and drink items they purchase.
The labelling requirements in this bill are proposed to apply to large-sized fast-food chains, which are defined in the legislation as those businesses which have seven or more outlets in the ACT or 50 or more in Australia.
The bill seeks to bring the ACT in line with New South Wales and replicates the details of its current requirements. For example, if this bill is passed, kilojoule counts must be displayed for each of the different portion sizes, such as small, medium and large. The kilojoule content would also need to be displayed for a whole meal, such as a burger, fries and drink. The display of the kilojoule count must be in the same size font as, or bigger than, the prices and be clearly linked with the food item it describes.
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