New York City Council Approves Law Requiring Restaurant Chains to Label High-Sugar Foods

The New York City Council approved a law this Thursday that requires restaurant chains with fifteen or more locations to mark foods that have a large amount of sugar with a specific icon.

Specifically, these chains must be guided by the levels of added sugar recommended by the US Food and Drug Administrations (FDA) or the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH), and complements a previous law adopted in 2022.

“I’ll keep this short and sweet: House Bill 687 will help New Yorkers make smarter dietary choices and live healthier lives,” said Council Member Keith Powers.

“With diabetes and heart disease claiming too many lives each year, the Sweet Truth Act provides much-needed transparency and information about the amount of added sugars found in our foods,” Powers added. .

A study carried out by the University of California at Davis in 2021 and published in July in the journal Preventive Medicine, revealed that showing the amount of added sugar that a food contains can educate consumers about responsible sugar consumption and convince them to choose a healthier option.

According to the University of California survey, carried out with a sample of more than 1,300 adults, excessive sugar consumption increases the risk of suffering from type 2 Diabetes, the seventh cause of death in the United States, as well as increases the possibility of suffering from liver-related diseases or dental problems.

Obesity and heart problems, classics in the United States

The national health agency, known as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), assures that, before the pandemic, obesity affected 100 million adults (41.9%) and 14.7 million children (19.7%) in the United States.

In New York, approximately 2 in 3 adults are obese (29.1%) or overweight (34.5%), with black, non-Hispanic people (36.8%) and Hispanic adults (33.5%) most affected, according to data from the Department of Health of the city.

Educational level and income can influence the risk of obesity: according to the New York Department of Health, this condition is less common in adults with a college degree (22.8%) and in adults with household incomes greater than $50,000 a year (27.3%).

On the other hand, according to data from the New York City Council, around 695,000 people die each year from heart disease, and approximately 805,000 Americans suffer a heart attack each year.

In 2020, 7.3% of New Yorkers suffered a heart attack, coronary heart disease or stroke, and 18.9% of adults over 65 suffered some type of cardiovascular disease.

2023-11-02 22:10:00
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