Victoria stalls kilojoules-on-menus decision

The Victorian Government may not continue with the previous administration’s decision to force restaurants with more than fifty Victorian outlets, or 200 nationally, to print nutritional information on menus.

The legislation was announced by the Brumby Government, but was not passed before the election. A spokeswoman for the new Health Minister David Davis told The Age it was still “under consideration”.

Public health lobby group, the Obesity Policy Coalition (which represents the Cancer Council, Diabetes Australia and VicHealth) urged the government to enact the legislation, but said regulation at a federal level would be preferable.

Senior policy adviser for the group, Jane Martin, told The Age that research showed labelling had been effective in making people choose healthier foods with lower energy content, particularly in the US, which now has a national law, and that it was also increasingly difficult to identify a truly healthy meal at some stores that made many unhealthy products sound good for you.

Source: Australian Food News