Americans will be digging into turkey, stuffing and mashed potatoes this week, but on Capitol Hill lawmakers are looking for ways to trim waistlines across the country.
Over the years, Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, has pushed a range of legislation aimed at promoting healthier eating.
Harkin plans to reintroduce a bill in the next Congress that would require chain restaurants to provide customers with nutritional information on their menus.
The Menu Education And Labeling, or MEAL act, would apply to restaurants with 20 or more outlets.
The restaurants would be required to disclose the fat, sodium and calorie content of their dishes. The information would appear on menus or menu boards at fast food establishments such as McDonald's and Burger King.
The requirements would apply not only to burger joints but also to sit-down chain restaurants such as the Olive Garden or Ruth's Chris Steak House.
Harkin has introduced the legislation without success before, but it might get some traction next year.
Health care and related topics are expected to get a lot of attention. Also, the issue of nutrition labeling has heated up as state and local governments in California and New York have moved forward with their own labeling requirements.
Restaurant chains that once resisted federal legislation on the subject are now hoping to avoid a patchwork of state regulations by having the federal government adopt a national standard.
Industry groups object to the details of Harkin's proposal, however, saying that if the restrictions are too tough they could be unworkable and too expensive. The groups favor alternative legislation that would give them more flexibility in how they provide the information.
Under other proposals, restaurants would be allowed to provide the information in the form of a pamphlet or a wall poster, for example. Harkin has stuck to the idea that customers should receive the information at the same place they order their food.
Advocates of the legislation say it makes sense to restrict the rules to chain restaurants because they have standardized menus that make it easier to provide the data and the financial resources to make it happen.
Margo Wootan, director of nutrition policy for the Center for Science in the Public Interest, said the split-second decisions that diners make add up over time. A hundred calories a day can make the difference between maintaining a healthy weight and heading down the path to obesity, she said.
Providing nutrition information on menus could prod customers in the right direction. They might choose diet pop over regular, for example. Or bypass the onion rings for french fries, a move that typically saves 300 calories. At some restaurants, the difference between one appetizer and another is 1,300 calories, Wootan said.
"There's a lot of calorie savers," she said.
Having nutritional information on menus also could encourage restaurants to use leaner meats, switch to low-fat dressings or reduce serving sizes.
Industry groups in Nebraska and Iowa said they support the National Restaurant Association's position that flexibility is important in whatever the federal government adopts.
Doni DeNucci, president and chief executive officer of the Iowa Restaurant Association, said her organization has discussed the issue with Harkin and will continue working with him next year. She said legislation must take into account what's practical.
There simply isn't enough room on a fast food restaurant menu board for extensive nutrition information, she said.
And sit-down restaurants that have more diverse offerings could wind up with menus that look like department store catalogs, she said.
Still, the industry says it supports the goal behind Harkin's proposal.
"We as an industry know and understand that the public has a desire and a right to know what's in the food they're eating," DeNucci said.
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