LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- (WDRB) When you visit your favorite restaurant, do you want to know how healthy, or unhealthy, the food is? Like it or not, we may be about to find out.
A proposed ordinance in Louisville could make that information readily available. It's an effort to help us eat healthier. But some restaurant owners are concerned about the potential cost.
The proposed ordinance would not require restaurants to have nutritional information. But those that already have the information on the Internet or elsewhere, would be required to also post it on their menus or on menu boards, where customers can easily see it.
Council president Jim King is a co-sponsor.
"My belief is the more educated the public is, the more likely they are to make healthy choices."
The owner of Bearno's pizza says he's all for transparency, but he's concerned about the potential cost.
"It's not cheap to do a menu for most restaurants, so the cost of redoing a menu or redoing a menu board that would be the biggest concern on the cost," said George Timmering.
But King says any cost to restaurants should be minimal.
"It's merely saying print out a sheet of paper that's on the Internet, and have it in your restaurant available. Tape it to the wall if that's all you want to do. It's up to them what they want the document to look like. They don't have to change their menus. They can simply attach it to a menu board."
But even as the Metro Council begins to consider the ordinance, the Kentucky Restaurant Association says it will actively oppose it.
"If this was an outcry on an individual basis, they would be doing it because they're the hospitality business. They want to provide things that they're customers want. But if you get into things like menu boards or other signage, it's not a few dollars. It can be a lot of money," said Association President and CEO Stacy Roof.
The Metro Council's Health, Education and Housing Committee late this afternoon tabled the ordinance, at least for now. Council members say they want the County Attorney to address a few questions first. The committee will consider ordinance again in two weeks.
Copyright 2012 WDRB News. All Rights Reserved.
