part of the obesity reducing drive for America

In America one of the new provisions in the health care reform legislation is that companies providing snack food in vending machines will have to clearly highlight the nutritional information and specifically the calorie content for each item sold on the machine itself. The idea is that individuals making that impulse snack purchase might change their minds when they see how many calories they will consume.

This initiative which is part of the obesity reducing drive for America has been met with plenty of resistance from the snack food industry who say that it will cost $56 million to put into effect.  Mr. Ned Monroe from the National Automatic Merchandising Association called it a "substantial economic hit." Restaurant owners have also been subjected to new legislation on a Federal level (as opposed to a State level) which will require them to also display calorie counts and nutritional information on restaurant menus.

The way we see it at Ukmedix News is that unless this legislation is carried out the cost to the nation as a whole will be much more than $56 million in increased health care costs for the obese. In fact it would even pay the United States government to finance the nutritional labeling in both restaurants and on snack vending machines themselves because it would prove to be a good investment for the future.

With the American Institute for Cancer Research recently releasing research showing that obesity is much more connected to cancer than previously thought and with the huge health care costs that are crippling America every single thing that the government can do to warn people about what they are eating can only pay off in the long term. It is estimated at this point that obesity is costing the American health system more than $140 billion annually and is rising every year. It is essential that the food industry begins to compete with each other on the nutritional quality and low calorie intake of their products and that levels of added sugar and salt are regulated by law.

In the United Kingdom more needs to be done too and when it comes to obesity prevention is always better than cure.