Does anyone really still think the Obama Administration doesn’t want to regulate the food industry? How’s this for proof.
On Friday, reportssurfaced that the Food and Drug Administration may begin to require movie theater chains to post calorie counts for popcorn and other snack foods. Because of a provision in Obamacare, chain restaurants with at least 20 locations will have to post the calorie content of menu items. However, FDA regulators may choose to include concession stands, grocery stores, and now movie theaters in the new FDA rules.
As usual, the wet blankets over at the Centers for Science in the Public Interest are all over this possible new regulation. Citing that a large-size popcorn contains as many as 1,460 calories, CSPI’s nutrition policy director Margo Wooten said ominously “It’s easy enough to blow your whole diet for a week from one snack at the movie theater….Just because you happen to be watching a movie while you’re eating doesn’t mean you aren’t eating out.”
Geese, can you imagine going to a movie with Wooten? I bet she packs her own little Tupperware containers full of nuts, whole grains, and leafy greens. Fun!
Perhaps it never occurs to Wooten that you don’t actually have to order a BUCKET of popcorn. Does Wooten know that theaters actually offer sizes other than large? That’s right; you can actually order small-sized popcorn (which come in at under 300 calories)? Does she know that movie theaters offer diet sodas and water? Some even offer hard and soft pretzels and small bags of chewy candies (many of which contain fewer than 150 calories)? Does she know that human beings can make the choice to eat this bad stuff or skip it all together?
Also, does Wooten actually think it will be a surprise to anyone that movie popcorn (particularly a bucket of it) has a lot of calories? Does she actually believe when people tuck into a bucket of greasy, fake-yellow movie popcorn that they’re muttering to themselves “heck, this is some fantastic heath food.”
Of course not. The calorie total doesn’t really matter to Wooten. Neither does personal choice. What matters to Wooten and her comrades over at the CSPI is growing government’s regulatory role in the food business.
But for normal Americans who occasionally enjoy a night out of a dinner and movie, Wooten’s call for regulations will result in only one thing–higher prices at the already high-priced movie theater.