Calorie count bill pending in Oregon Legislature
Wednesday, April 8th, 2009A new proposed law pending in the Oregon Legislature, HB 2726, would require chain restaurants to provide Oregon consumers with calorie and nutrition information on items on the menu. Onward Oregon is pushing the bill. As I’ve noted before, giving consumers calorie and nutrition information is a great idea.
Those who are critical of obesity fast-food lawsuits should be quick to hop on board. Legislative regulation is a great alternative to regulation by litigation. After all, if you give a consumers truthful and timely information about the food they are buying, they can’t claim that they were misled by the seller.
Some are critical of this approach. After all, we’re told, some warnings are ridiculous. True, a warning like, “Be careful, don’t hit your finger,” on the side of a hammer is goofy or worse. But when–due to its design–the same hammer can shatter into a thousand pieces and project metal splinters, you better believe that consumers should be informed.
If you’re interested in supporting HB 2726, go here and let your legislator know.