“This proposal is about giving the consumer more power to protect and improve their health, said Patterson. “Right now consumers have limited nutrition information about what is in the food they eat in local restaurants. Without the nutrition labels that we count on at home, it’s not easy to know what is in the food we eat when eating out. This proposal will remove the guess work for everyone so that we can make healthy and informed decisions when we go out to eat.”

The recommendation of the board's Nutrition Committee will be considered by the King County Board of Health when it meets on Thursday, July 19, at 1:30 p.m., in the King County Council Chambers in the King County Courthouse. The Board of Health will consider legislation to require chain restaurants with more than 10 locations to label their menus with important nutrition facts, including calories, sodium, fats, and carbohydrates. Americans are eating out twice as much as in 1970, and adults and children are getting about one-third of their calories from away-from-home foods. The legislation will also call for the elimination of artificial trans fats in all restaurants.

The American Medical Association voted last month to recommend that chain restaurants provide consumers with nutritional information on menus and menu boards. Public opinion polling shows that two-thirds of Americans support requiring restaurants to provide nutrition information, including calories, on menus so they are able to make informed decisions about what they eat.

“Menu labeling gives easy access to the same information already available at home, where three-quarters of adults use food labels to guide their nutrition choices,” said Patterson. “We’re missing that information to sort through the variety of choices at restaurants, some of which can be deceptively high in calories, fats and sodium.”

Nationally, fewer than half—44 percent—of the largest chain restaurants voluntarily provide nutrition information to their customers for most of their standard menu items. Even for those that do, it’s usually provided on Web sites which generally have to be accessed before going to the restaurant, or on brochures or posters that may be hard to find and difficult to read.

Trans fat is unsafe and virtually invisible to the consumer in restaurants. Evidence shows that consuming trans fat increases the likelihood of heart disease, which is the second leading killer in King County, taking 2,714 lives in 2003. Another 40,000 residents are currently living with heart disease, and the number is growing.

“Replacing artificial trans fats in restaurant food with safe alternatives will save lives, reduce illnesses and save millions in health care costs,” added Patterson. “We know it can be done. In fact, New York City has recently and successfully implemented a similar ban on trans-fat.”