Many Canadians go to restaurants to forget about calories, salt and fat content for an evening, but others like to know exactly what is in their bowl of French onion soup.
To satisfy that crowd, the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association is touting an initiative called Informed Dining, in which consumers can find nutrition information before ordering their favourite dish.
The CRFA said 17 major restaurant chains, including A&W, McDonalds, Milestones, Montana’s and Tim Hortons, have committed to Informed Dining and intend to implement the program sometime this year.
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CRFA president Garth Whyte said customers are seeking comprehensive nutrition information that doesn’t fit on a fast food menu board.
“Canadians want more than just a calorie count,” he said.
“What (customers) are telling us they need varies tremendously from one person to the next. The Informed Dining program provides the information Canadians are looking for in a manner that is accessible, visible and presented in a consistent way across the country.”
The program, which was developed by the British Columbia government in collaboration with the restaurant industry, provides information on calories and 13 nutrients through a website.
Participating restaurants will display the Informed Dining logo and a statement on their menu or menu board telling customers that nutrition information on each dish is available.
Tammy Ives, a registered dietician and executive director of Dieticians of Canada in Manitoba, said eating out is “positively correlated with total caloric intake and weight status.”
In other words, Canadians eat too much when they dine in restaurants.
“Dietitians of Canada agrees that consumers should have easy access to complete nutrition information, as well as education to help them put this information into context,” Ives said. “(But) I can’t stress enough that ongoing evaluation is needed to determine the most effective method of providing nutritional information to consumers.”
The B.C. and Manitoba governments have endorsed the program, and Whyte hopes other provinces join. The Ontario government is considering legislation that will require restaurants to post nutrition information on menus or menu boards, and Canadian cities are also contemplating their own restaurant nutrition guidelines.
However, Whyte said CRFA members don’t want a “hodge podge” of nutrition information systems.
The CRFA is lobbying provincial governments to support the program because restaurant chains want a standardized approach from Corner Brook to Comox.
“We want a system that’s consistent across the country,” he said. “And the customer doesn’t want a different system (at) different restaurants.”
