STAND. COM. REP. NO. 215

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2005

RE: H.B. No. 1579

H.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2005

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Health, to which was referred H.B. No. 1579 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HEALTH,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to allow consumers to better safeguard their health, by requiring franchise retail food establishments to include in their menus, nutritional information for each of the standard items on their menu.

The Department of Health, Hawaii Restaurant Association, and LWD, Inc. (the owner of several Hawaii McDonald's restaurants) provided testimony in opposition to this measure.

Your Committee finds that nutritional information on most restaurant foods is inadequate for an informed consumer choice. Since it is estimated that half of the average consumer's money spent on food goes toward food from restaurants and other food service establishments, this contributes to obesity and unhealthy food consumption by the general public.

However, your Committee agrees with testifiers that diet is a matter of individual choice. Further, as a corporate entity, McDonald's is recognized for providing consumers, on request, with nutritional information on its menu items, and is a model to be emulated in this aspect.

Upon further consideration, your Committee has amended this bill to require those restaurants and food service establishments with fixed menus to maintain and provide nutritional information on its menu items to consumers, on request.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Health that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1579, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1579, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Consumer Protection & Commerce.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Health,

 

____________________________

DENNIS A. ARAKAKI, Chair