SB 120 (Menu Labeling) Still Awaits the Governor's Signature 

Governor Schwarzenegger has until October 14 to take action on SB120 (Padilla/Migden). On Wednesday, October 10th the Sacramento Bee ran a California Center for Public Health Advocacy op-ed, SB 120: Healthy step toward slimmer state, supporting the bill that would require chain restaurants to post nutrition information on menus and menu boards.

The bill applies to all large restaurant chains with 15 or more locations, and if signed, California would become the first state in the nation to require such information

As members of the Rapid Response Media Network, we encourage you to send in letters to the editor TODAY and TOMORROW in response to the local coverage this issue has received as well as the Sacramento Bee Op-Ed.

Your letters in support of this bill can reinforce the following points:

• The Governor’s Obesity Prevention Plan endorses menu labeling. SB 120 falls in line with a recommendation from the California Obesity Prevention Plan to list caloric values on menus and menu boards.
• Health experts across the country have identified nutritional menu labeling as a primary strategy to address the obesity crisis affecting 60 percent of California adults.
• SB 120 would reduce health care costs and is supported by 84 percent of Californians, including Republicans and Democrats.
• A Field Poll released on April 18th of this year found that an overwhelming number of Californians are currently unable to identify from among typical fast-food and restaurant menu items those with the fewest calories, or the least salt, the most fat, or the most calories.

In addition to menu labeling, the Strategic Alliance recommends the following important first steps for the food and beverage industry:

• Provide healthy food and drinks as the standard in all children’s meals and on children’s menus.
• Competitively price healthy foods so they are as affordable, if not more affordable, than less healthful options.
• Make healthy foods widely available in all children’s environments (preschools, schools and after school programs), workplaces, and all neighborhoods.
• Eliminate all marketing and advertising of unhealthy food and beverage products to children and youth.
• Support (and do not oppose) policies designed to bring healthier foods and beverages to schools, workplaces, healthcare settings, and neighborhoods.

We welcome you to share any letters or op-eds that get published with the rest of the Strategic Alliance membership by sending them to sana@preventioninstitute.org

Strategic Alliance’s Setting the Bar: Recommendations for Food and Beverage Industry Action also offers concrete actions for the food and beverage industry to support healthy diets.

WHAT IS THE STRATEGIC ALLIANCE?

The Strategic Alliance is reframing the debate on nutrition and physical activity away from a focus on individual choice and lifestyle towards one of environment and corporate and government responsibility. Current Steering Committee members are: California Adolescent Nutrition and Fitness Program (CANFit), California Center for Public Health Advocacy, California Food Policy Advocates, California Pan-Ethnic Health Network, California Parks and Recreation Society, California Project LEAN, California WIC Association, Child Care Food Program Roundtable, Latino Health Access, Partnership for the Public's Health, Prevention Institute, Samuels & Associates and YMCA of the East Bay.

HOW TO BECOME A MEMBER

The Strategic Alliance is currently engaged in building a broad and diverse statewide membership. To join or for more information, please visit us on the Web, www.eatbettermovemore.org, or contact Sana Chehimi at 510.444.7738 or Sana@preventioninstitute.org. And even if you're already a member, please forward this message on to your colleagues so we can continue to strengthen our coalition. Thank you!

The Strategic Alliance is reframing the debate on nutrition and physical activity--from a focus on individual choice and lifestyle, towards one of environment and corporate and government responsibility.

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