[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 43 (Wednesday, March 11, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3024-S3025]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        PETITIONS AND MEMORIALS

  The following petition or memorial was laid before the Senate and was 
referred or ordered to lie on the table as indicated:

       POM-10. A resolution adopted by the Senate of the 
     Commonwealth of Kentucky urging the 111th United States 
     Congress to enact a federal Menu Education and Labeling 
     (Meal) Act; to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and 
     Pensions.

                        Senate Resolution No. 76

       Whereas, research continues to reveal the strong link 
     between diet and health, and that diet-related diseases start 
     early in life; and
       Whereas, increased caloric intake is a key factor 
     contributing to the alarming increase in obesity in the 
     United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control 
     and Prevention, two-thirds of American adults are overweight 
     or obese, and the rates of obesity have tripled in children 
     and teens since 1980. Obesity increases the risk of diabetes, 
     heart disease, stroke, and other health problems. Each year 
     obesity costs families, businesses, and governments $117 
     billion; and
       Whereas, over the past two decades, there has been a 
     significant increase in the numbers of meals prepared and 
     consumed outside of the home, with an estimated one-third of 
     calories and almost 46 percent of total food dollars being 
     spent on food purchased from and consumed at restaurants and 
     other food-service establishments; and

[[Page S3025]]

       Whereas, studies like eating out with obesity and higher 
     caloric intakes. Foods that people eat from restaurants and 
     other food-service establishments are generally higher in 
     calories and saturated fat and lower in nutrients, such as 
     calcium and fiber, than home-prepared foods; and
       Whereas, while nutrition labeling is currently required on 
     most packaged foods, this information is required only for 
     restaurant foods for which nutrient content or health claims 
     are made; and
       Whereas, three-quarters of American adults report using 
     food labels on packaged foods, which are required by the 
     Nutrition Labeling and Education Act and went into effect in 
     1994. Using food labels is associated with eating healthier 
     diets, and approximately 48 percent of people report that the 
     nutrition information on food labels has caused them to 
     change their minds about buying a food product. Research 
     shows that people make healthier choices when restaurants 
     provide point-of-purchase nutrition information; and
       Whereas, it is difficult for consumers to limit their 
     intake of calories at restaurants, given the limited 
     availability of nutrition information, as well as the popular 
     practice by many restaurants of providing foods in larger-
     than-standard servings and `super-sized' portions; and
       Whereas, the enacting of a federal Meal Act would provide 
     all Americans valuable additional nutritional information 
     that will best equip individuals and allow them to make 
     healthy choices when they are consuming prepared foods 
     outside of the home: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Senate of the General Assembly of the 
     Commonwealth of Kentucky:
       Section 1. The Senate of the Commonwealth of Kentucky 
     hereby urges the 111th United States Congress to enact a 
     federal Menu Education and Labeling (Meal) Act.
       Section 2. The Clerk of the Senate shall forward a copy of 
     this Resolution to the Clerk of the United States Senate and 
     the Clerk of the United States House of Representatives.

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