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What new or revised public policy/law would make it easier for people to maintain a healthy weight?

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Replies

  • Copper_Boom
    Copper_Boom Posts: 85 Member
    lemurcat2 wrote: »
    x
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    shaf238 wrote: »
    Putting aside for one minute that people need to take more responsibility for themselves, mandating that food suppliers, restaurants, etc have to provide nutritional information would be the one thing I'd like to see.

    That's already required for the most part. It would be very burdensome for mom and pop establishments though and many of them would likely go out of business.

    Just curious- why would this be especially burdensome for Mom and Pop restaurants and put many of them out of business? They’re allowed to use the database method. It doesn’t have to be any harder than it is for us to fill out a recipe in MFP. It might actually help them to more accurately calculate the cost to make a portion when they look at the amount of each ingredient.

    For one thing, if actual legislation was enacted, I would have serious doubts as to them being allowed to use the data base method as that would be pretty loosey goosey for actual legislation. And really, what's the point of enacting legislation when databases are so full of absolute *kitten* for entries made by other users of the system? How much will they be allowed to be off? Would people even trust the stated calorie counts? I mean people already question the counts of restaurants who's food gets sent to a lab. Do they get fined for using bad entries to create their calorie counts? Do they get away with using entries that are erroneously low to make it appear that their menu is lower calorie? How is the FDA going to verify the calorie counts without that food going to a lab?

    Mom and pop restaurants already run on a very thin margin and many, if not most struggle to just stay open. As I stated in an earlier reply, this is extra time spent when owners of these establishments are already burning it at both ends, and time is money. It's irrelevant though because any such legislation would never allow for something so unscientific as using a random database to come up with calorie counts to assure the public of what they're getting. Having food sent to a lab is expensive and would put many of these places under.

    Beyond that, mom and pop restaurants are a pretty small % of the restaurant world and the overall food supply. I seriously don't think mom and pop restaurants are contributing substantially to the obesity epidemic. If you looked at it on a pie chart, mom and pop restaurants would be a tiny sliver of the overall food supply...why burden something so small with more bureaucracy? They already have to deal with a *kitten* ton of it already. The government doesn't typically enact legislation that makes things easier...

    I'm not sure where you are located, but this is already required in the U.S. for restaurants with 20 or more locations. The FDA website does state that they can comply using nutrient databases (USDA, cookbooks, etc.). No requirement to send food to a lab.

    Seemed pretty clear he was talking about "mom and pop" restaurants, which do not have 20 or more locations.

    Yes... my point was that the FDA doesn't require even the chain restaurants to send the food out for lab testing if they choose to use the nutrient databases, so why would they require it of the mom and pop restaurants.
  • lleeann2001
    lleeann2001 Posts: 410 Member
    kilobykilo wrote: »
    New to this and absolutely agree. I've just eaten sushi for lunch from the counter of my local supermarket.... No nutritional info attached. So, now I've guessed but would like to plan the calories in my dinner according to more than a guess!

    last time i had supermarket sushi, i got so sick😰
  • reversemigration
    reversemigration Posts: 168 Member
    durhammfp wrote: »
    Stop subsidizing soy and corn agribusiness. In America we eat a lot of cheap *kitten* because, well, it's cheap.

    https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2530901

    QFT. Corn, in particular, has no need for subsidies. On the flip side, fruit and vegetables aren't eligible for subsidies.
  • zeejane03
    zeejane03 Posts: 993 Member
    I'd like to be able to use HSA money for durable exercise equipment.

    You should have to use it some reasonable amount for it to qualify. Ideally the way that would work is you'd sync some kind of app with your doctor's system. I say that from the perspective that your doctor is an expert whose job it is to help you, and knowing patient's exercise habits can help the doctor find the best plan for a lot of things, including depression.

    I think it would be awesome to be able to use HSA funds for exercise equipment! We had a horribly cold winter and I had to stop my walks. I looked into a treadmill but didn't have extra funds to buy one. It would have been great if I could have used our HSA to buy one.
  • h7463
    h7463 Posts: 626 Member
    zeejane03 wrote: »
    I'd like to be able to use HSA money for durable exercise equipment.

    You should have to use it some reasonable amount for it to qualify. Ideally the way that would work is you'd sync some kind of app with your doctor's system. I say that from the perspective that your doctor is an expert whose job it is to help you, and knowing patient's exercise habits can help the doctor find the best plan for a lot of things, including depression.

    I think it would be awesome to be able to use HSA funds for exercise equipment! We had a horribly cold winter and I had to stop my walks. I looked into a treadmill but didn't have extra funds to buy one. It would have been great if I could have used our HSA to buy one.

    Wouldn't it be nice to buy healthy food before taxes as well... But that's not what the HSA is for, right...