Vermont Dietetic Association

Health Care Reform

Mandatory Restaurant Nutrition Labeling Bill

On Tuesday, January 12, 2010 a bill will be introduced in the Vermont Senate regarding mandatory restaurant nutrition labeling for chains that have more than 10 restaurants throughout the state.  This bill is sponsored by the Vermont chapter of the American Heart Association, At the last VDA board meeting, the board supported the AHA bill because as it is consistent with ADA's policy on restaurant labeling.  

This link will take you to an action alert that I’ve just sent out to our grassroots network with hopes that they will send it to their legislators. The whole process is really easy and takes about two seconds.
Here is the link to the bill.

FYI: Here is a very recent and interesting article from the January 6th issue of the Stanford Business Review regarding the impact of restaurant labeling on restaurant sales.  Summary: sales are not negatively impacted but consumers make different choices.   

ACT 203 An Act Relating to Health Care Reform

Sections 13-21 Preventing Chronic Conditions Through Healthy Lifestyles. Click here

Act 203 was passed during the 2008 legislative session. The Healthy Lifestyles Sections include: Community plans, Community Health and Wellness Grants, Inventory of coordinated School Health Programs, Nutrition Guidelines for Competitive Food and Beverage sales in Schools, Healthy Community Design and Access to Healthy Food, Healthy Worksites, Promoting Healthier Weight Through Primary Care, CHAMPPS/Fit and Healthy Advisory Council and Food Containing Artificial Trans Fat and Menu Labeling. 

These areas relate to public health and prevention. Meetings involving a variety of stakeholders were scheduled to: review best practices, identify existing efforts and resources, identify the need for additional information and develop a plan to prioritize policy options for Vermont. Reports to the legislature were submitted in January of 2009 and can be found online. They include: 

A consolidated report on the healthy living initiatives (Act 203 sections 17-21)

School Nutrition Guidelines-The state nutrition standards were updated (per Act 203 section 16) and made available to all schools. The revised guidelines can be found on the Department of Education's website

School Nutrition Guidelines Report (Act 203 section 16)

Inventory of Coordinated School Health Programs (Act 203 section 15)

Blueprint for Health Annual Report-includes report on the community grants and community plans (Act 203 sections 13&14)

Click here for the details: ACT 203 An Act Relating to Health Care Reform