A new study finds that 27 Canadian restaurant chains that voluntarily agreed in 2005 to make nutrition information available to customers, have done a dismal job of meeting their commitments.
The results come on the same day New York City Board of Health voted unanimously to require all city restaurant chains to post calorie, sodium and saturated fat data on menus.
The study by the followed up with the restaurants two years after they agreed to make the changes, to see whether they were serving up the information they said they would.
The Centre looked at 136 restaurant outlets representing the chains that voluntarily signed onto the Nutrition Information Program, which was affiliated with the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association.
"We were quite surprised that a little over a third provided nutritional information at restaurants," Bill Jeffery of the Centre for Science in the Public Interest told CTV's Canada AM.
"But even those that did, often provided it in formats with very small print size. It was typically behind the counter so customers might not even know that it's there and they have to stand in line to get a copy and so forth."
A news release from the food industry watchdog said 18 of the 27 restaurant chains "failed to live up to even the feeble standards of the program," despite having committed to provide nutrition information "through in-store brochures...at each unit location [and] on participating company websites."
Those 18 chains provide brochures or posters in only a minority of the outlets surveyed or none at all.
In 2005, the restaurants that signed onto the program did so in order to head off a bill that was before Parliament. It would have required chains with more than $10 million in annual sales to provide mandatory nutritional information.
MPs defeated the bill on Nov. 9, 2006, largely based on the chains' voluntary offer to post the information.
"The restaurant industry told MPs don't worry, we have it in hand," Jeffery said.
"It was in their interest because they wanted to defeat a bill, plainly. I think their reluctance is partly because the restaurant industry tends to be quite conservative, they resist some change, and this was going to be change imposed by Parliament."
But the industry hasn't made good on its promise, he said, noting that such measures could affect sales of items such as pop and French fries.
Jeffery said the onus is now on provinces and municipalities to follow New York City's lead, and require chain restaurants to make information available, since the volunteer commitment doesn't seem to have been effective.
"I think what Canadians can take away from that is if the federal government doesn't act, as is the case here, it's time for the provincial government to do something," he said.
