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CNN Live Saturday

Is Fast Food Making Americans Fat?

Aired November 16, 2003 - 18:44   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: So are fast foot restaurants making Americans fat? That is the thinking behind newly introduced legislation calling, well, it's called actually the Meal Act. It stands for Menu Education and Labeling. It would require big restaurant chains to list calories, fat and sodium on their menus. Representative Rosa DeLauro introduced the bill and believes it could lead to a healthy American. But Lee Culpepper with the National Restaurant Association disagrees. Both of them join me this evening.
Lee, Congresswomen, thank you very much for being with us.

REP. ROSA DELAURO: Thank you.

LEE CULPEPPER, NATIONAL RESTAURANT ASSOCIATION: Good to be here.

LIN: First to you, Congresswomen, do you really think that this is going to create a healthier American by posting fat, calories and sodium?

DELAURO: I do because I think people want to make responsible choices, healthy choices about their diet. We do have a growing problem with obesity. It is probably one of the biggest health problems we have in the United States today. And people are making decisions in grocery stores here we have packaged food which has nutritional labeling. And about 48 percent of the public say they have changed their diet in looking at those labels. And what we are only trying to do is to reflect people's living patterns today. We have almost 50 percent of the food dollar is being spent in restaurants today. That's a lot different than it was in 1970.

LIN: Lee Culpepper, so what's wrong with that?

CULPEPPER: Well, I think when you look at the Congresswoman's approach I think here intentions are good. We certainly want to commend her for good intentions and trying to do something about the obesity and overweight problem in this country. We certainly want to be a part of addressing that in the restaurant industry. And we encourage, exercise, moderation, good diets, good and healthful diets.

LIN: But not posting, not posting of calories and fat?

CULPEPPER: Well, here is the problem with her proposal is that good intentions doesn't really translate to good legislation in this case. She would mandate that on every menu, for every chain restaurant over 20 units, which is the majority of restaurants in this country, beside every menu item on the menu you would have to list calories, fat, transfats, sodium. I think most people that are watching this right now are getting ready to go out to eat. We put that in the category of too much information. I don't' think they want that. I think we can build on a much better system based on the ...

LINS: Such as.

CULPEPPER: ... based on the voluntary works that are being done in many restaurant chains right now to voluntarily provide information to customers who request it. I think that's a much better approach rather than creating legal liability for restaurants all across America if they don't report every menu item correctly. It certainly is a workable proposal and it creates liability. And that is the reason that we are opposed to it. We think there are better solutions to try to get at the obesity and overweight problem.

LIN: Well, let's talk about the liability issue. I mean, Congresswomen, does it create a liability issue if, for example, in some instances, especially when you custom order say at some burger chains where you can choose some of the ingredients, I mean, does it create liability for the restaurant if they commit to the information?

DELAURO: Well, first of all, we are talking about not mom and pop restaurants but as you have pointed the large chains. And he fact of the matter is today some of them do that. And I applaud the industry for doing it. When these McDonald's, Burger King, Subway are in some way, you know, dealing with getting the information out, you hardly when you are in a line at the fast-food restaurant are able to have your computer there where you can log on and see what is on the website. So what we are trying to do is to make the information available. And this is standardized so that you just have an idea of what -- a whopper is 760 calories. If you have a whopper cheese it is 100 calories.

LIN: But, you know, Congressman, what we are not talking about here, which I don't understand, is personally responsibility. I mean, if I go to a burger joint and I want to order a whopper I have got to know walking into the door that it is going to be fattening. It is not exactly the best choice for me.

DELAURO: But you said the point. We are giving people information. And, in fact, you then allow people to make a choice. And they can make a responsible choice if they care to. And they don't have to do that. And, in fact, quite the contrary with the liability, I think if you do provide people with information then it is up to them to make that choice. And again contrary to what Lee has said, about two thirds of the public is interested in having this kind of information in order that you can make an informed choice.

LIN: Lee, you get the last word on this.

CULPEPPER: Congresswomen, if you go into a sandwich ship and you've got four different types of bread, you've got eight different types of meat and you got seven different condiments to put on that sandwich how are you going to possibly put together all of those possible combinations and provide the fat, calories and sodium information for all of those items, because this is an unworkable proposal. DELAURO: It is about a standard menu. Most of the chains or all of the chains have standard menus. And then people will make an extrapolation of what that is. This is not about the specials of the day. It s not about anything that is extraordinary. You have a standardized menu. You put those things there. People will make the choices. They will understand the information.

CULPEPPER: If I am at Outback Steakhouse, how do I tell somebody what is in a bake potato when they choose if they want to put sour cream or butter and how much in to that bake potato.

LIN: All right, we are going to have to end on that question. I think both of you are able to get the points across. And, frankly, the looks on your faces say it all.

CULPEPPER: Let's go out to eat.

LIN: There we go. We can talk about it over brunch.

CULPEPPER: There you go.

LIN: Thanks so much ...

DELAURO: Thank you.

LIN: ... Lee Culpepper and Congresswoman DeLauro.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired November 16, 2003 - 18:44   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: So are fast foot restaurants making Americans fat? That is the thinking behind newly introduced legislation calling, well, it's called actually the Meal Act. It stands for Menu Education and Labeling. It would require big restaurant chains to list calories, fat and sodium on their menus. Representative Rosa DeLauro introduced the bill and believes it could lead to a healthy American. But Lee Culpepper with the National Restaurant Association disagrees. Both of them join me this evening.
Lee, Congresswomen, thank you very much for being with us.

REP. ROSA DELAURO: Thank you.

LEE CULPEPPER, NATIONAL RESTAURANT ASSOCIATION: Good to be here.

LIN: First to you, Congresswomen, do you really think that this is going to create a healthier American by posting fat, calories and sodium?

DELAURO: I do because I think people want to make responsible choices, healthy choices about their diet. We do have a growing problem with obesity. It is probably one of the biggest health problems we have in the United States today. And people are making decisions in grocery stores here we have packaged food which has nutritional labeling. And about 48 percent of the public say they have changed their diet in looking at those labels. And what we are only trying to do is to reflect people's living patterns today. We have almost 50 percent of the food dollar is being spent in restaurants today. That's a lot different than it was in 1970.

LIN: Lee Culpepper, so what's wrong with that?

CULPEPPER: Well, I think when you look at the Congresswoman's approach I think here intentions are good. We certainly want to commend her for good intentions and trying to do something about the obesity and overweight problem in this country. We certainly want to be a part of addressing that in the restaurant industry. And we encourage, exercise, moderation, good diets, good and healthful diets.

LIN: But not posting, not posting of calories and fat?

CULPEPPER: Well, here is the problem with her proposal is that good intentions doesn't really translate to good legislation in this case. She would mandate that on every menu, for every chain restaurant over 20 units, which is the majority of restaurants in this country, beside every menu item on the menu you would have to list calories, fat, transfats, sodium. I think most people that are watching this right now are getting ready to go out to eat. We put that in the category of too much information. I don't' think they want that. I think we can build on a much better system based on the ...

LINS: Such as.

CULPEPPER: ... based on the voluntary works that are being done in many restaurant chains right now to voluntarily provide information to customers who request it. I think that's a much better approach rather than creating legal liability for restaurants all across America if they don't report every menu item correctly. It certainly is a workable proposal and it creates liability. And that is the reason that we are opposed to it. We think there are better solutions to try to get at the obesity and overweight problem.

LIN: Well, let's talk about the liability issue. I mean, Congresswomen, does it create a liability issue if, for example, in some instances, especially when you custom order say at some burger chains where you can choose some of the ingredients, I mean, does it create liability for the restaurant if they commit to the information?

DELAURO: Well, first of all, we are talking about not mom and pop restaurants but as you have pointed the large chains. And he fact of the matter is today some of them do that. And I applaud the industry for doing it. When these McDonald's, Burger King, Subway are in some way, you know, dealing with getting the information out, you hardly when you are in a line at the fast-food restaurant are able to have your computer there where you can log on and see what is on the website. So what we are trying to do is to make the information available. And this is standardized so that you just have an idea of what -- a whopper is 760 calories. If you have a whopper cheese it is 100 calories.

LIN: But, you know, Congressman, what we are not talking about here, which I don't understand, is personally responsibility. I mean, if I go to a burger joint and I want to order a whopper I have got to know walking into the door that it is going to be fattening. It is not exactly the best choice for me.

DELAURO: But you said the point. We are giving people information. And, in fact, you then allow people to make a choice. And they can make a responsible choice if they care to. And they don't have to do that. And, in fact, quite the contrary with the liability, I think if you do provide people with information then it is up to them to make that choice. And again contrary to what Lee has said, about two thirds of the public is interested in having this kind of information in order that you can make an informed choice.

LIN: Lee, you get the last word on this.

CULPEPPER: Congresswomen, if you go into a sandwich ship and you've got four different types of bread, you've got eight different types of meat and you got seven different condiments to put on that sandwich how are you going to possibly put together all of those possible combinations and provide the fat, calories and sodium information for all of those items, because this is an unworkable proposal. DELAURO: It is about a standard menu. Most of the chains or all of the chains have standard menus. And then people will make an extrapolation of what that is. This is not about the specials of the day. It s not about anything that is extraordinary. You have a standardized menu. You put those things there. People will make the choices. They will understand the information.

CULPEPPER: If I am at Outback Steakhouse, how do I tell somebody what is in a bake potato when they choose if they want to put sour cream or butter and how much in to that bake potato.

LIN: All right, we are going to have to end on that question. I think both of you are able to get the points across. And, frankly, the looks on your faces say it all.

CULPEPPER: Let's go out to eat.

LIN: There we go. We can talk about it over brunch.

CULPEPPER: There you go.

LIN: Thanks so much ...

DELAURO: Thank you.

LIN: ... Lee Culpepper and Congresswoman DeLauro.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com