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23 Loy. Consumer L. Rev. 505 (2010-2011)
The Informed Consumer is a Healthy Consumer - The American Obesity Epidemic and the Federal Menu Labeling Law

handle is hein.journals/lyclr23 and id is 513 raw text is: THE INFORMED CONSUMER IS A HEALTHY CONSUMER? THE AMERICAN OBESITY EPIDEMIC AND THE FEDERAL MENU LABELING LAW Katherine Wilbur* Introduction A fter the recent passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Healthcare Act or Act) on March 23, 2010,1 legislators and political figures continue to debate whether the Act is economically feasible, whether government regulation of healthcare is constitutional, and whether the Act should ultimately be repealed or left unfunded. Amid the recent controversy over the health insurance related portions of the Act, many unrelated portions have been overlooked despite their potential to change America into a healthier nation. Specifically, Congress has mandated that restaurants and similar retail food stores with twenty or more locations and substantially the same menu items must provide an approximate calorie value for each of the restaurant's food and drink offerings on its menu board, individual menu, or drive thru menu (federal menu labeling law).2 This new effort to inform and empower consumers to take control of their health has been met with mixed reviews.3 * J.D. Candidate, May 2012, Loyola University Chicago School of Law; B.A., Art History, International Studies, 2009, Hope College. ' Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Pub. L. No. 111-148, 124 Stat. 119 (2010). Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act § 4205. See Brian Elbel et al., Calorie Labeling and Food Choices: A First Look at the Effects on Low-Income People in New York City, 28 HEALTH AFFAIRS 1110 (2009) (last visited Mar. 16, 2011), available at http://content. healthaffairs.org/content/28/6/w1110.abstract; see also Christina A. Roberto et al., Evaluating the Impact of Menu Labeling on Food Choices and Intake, 100 AM. J. OF PUB. HEALTH 312 (2010), available at http://ajph.aphapublications 505

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