FDA's report blames food industry for U.S. obesity problems

According to a new report released by the U.S. government, restaurants, groceries and other establishments have a role to play in the battle of the bulge.

That role says the report, is to help prevent obesity by offering and promoting more low-calorie, healthy food and drinks.

In a report commissioned and funded by the Food and Drug Administration, the Keystone Center, a non-profit policy center, collected information from industry, government and academic experts as part of its anti-obesity initiative.

According to the report the majority of Americans now buy much of their food already prepared, instead of cooking it at home.

They believe the consumption of such fast food is a contributing factor in the obesity epidemic being experienced in the country.

Figures estimate as many as two-thirds of Americans are overweight or obese.

The experts are recommending that restaurants market more low-calorie choices and possibly adopt cooking methods which reduce the calories consumed.

They also want easily understood details on calories to be made readily available for customers and recommend that U.S. restaurants reduce portion sizes, serve high calorie foods with lighter side orders.

Although the FDA has the power to regulate food package labels, it does not have the legal power to control information that restaurants provide.

FDA Officials say they hope the report will encourage companies to make voluntary changes but does not say whether the FDA will seek the legal clout to force the issue.

FDA Acting Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach says that by offering similar label information in restaurants as happens in food stores it would give consumers the information to make similar decisions regarding food when eating out.

The report found that prepared foods accounted for 46 percent of consumers' food budgets and 32 percent of their calories.

Some fast-food and chain restaurants have already made efforts to introduce healthy menu options or publish information on calories and fat.

But the National Restaurant Association has declared the report unfair as many of the recommendations are already taking place.

The Center for Consumer Freedom says the report inappropriately singles out the restaurant industry as a leading cause of obesity, ignores the impact of Americans' shrinking exercise habits, and dismisses the role of personal responsibility in dietary choices.

Many studies have shown that obesity rates in America are largely the result of an imbalance between calories-in and calories-out and that since the 1960s physical activity rates have plummeted.

Critics of the report regard it as yet another example the government attempting to further eliminate consumer choices.

The report also suggests that restaurants engage in "lifestyle education" to help consumers make healthier choices.

But as the Center for Consumer Freedom points out restaurants are in the business of serving to customers the food that they want to eat and to blame restaurants for their customers weight problems is placing the blame in the wrong direction.

The Center for Consumer Freedom is a nonprofit coalition supported by restaurants, food companies, and consumers, working together to promote personal responsibility and protect consumer choices.