Restaurants see the "lite."(new rules require restaurants to support nutrition claims on menu)(Brief Article)

Just how "light" is the "lite" potato salad at your favorite deli? And how healthy is that chicken dish you order from the "Healthy" menu every Friday?

Restaurant-goers are a little closer to knowing. As of last May, restaurants that make any nutrition claims for their foods have to be able to back them up. The information doesn't have to be on the menu, but the restaurant has to provide it if diners ask.

The new regulations are the result of a lawsuit by two consumer advocacy groups--the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) and Public Citizen. They're far from perfect, though. For example:

* Low-fat foods can't have more than three grams of fat per standard serving. But the standard (1/2 cup of ice cream, for example) is often a fraction of what restaurants serve. If you're served two or three times the standard (which isn't unusual), you'll get two or three times the fat, sodium, calories, or whatever.

Also, keep in mind that "low-fat meal-type foods" like hamburgers, pizza, or sandwiches can have more than three grams of fat per serving. And remember: "Low-fat" doesn't automatically mean "low-calorie."

* Light or Lite on a menu can still refer to color, taste, or texture rather than calories, fat, or sugar. But at least menus must now disclose why the food is "light."

* Cholesterol-free foods can't contain more than two grams of artery clogging saturated fat in a standard serving. (Otherwise, the food could raise your cholesterol, even though it's "cholesterol-free.") But if a typical restaurant portion is big enough, it can still deliver enough sat fat to do a number on your cholesterol.

What's more, some "cholesterol-free" foods contain large amounts of trans fat, which also raises your cholesterol. And don't forget that "cholesterol-free" doesn't mean "fat-free."

* Sugar-free foods that aren't "low-calorie" or "reduced-calorie" have to say so on the menu.

RELATED ARTICLE: Safe Food Roundup

Undercooked hamburgers. Everybody knows that it can harbor deadly E. coli O157:H7 bacteria. But lettuce? Apple juice

"Last year there was a bumper crop of foodborne illnesses," says CSPI food safety director Caroline Smith DeWaal. "Years of inadequate funding have left the public vulnerable and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) with a food-safety program that can do little more than recall contaminated foods."

Among 1996's and 1997's food-safety outbreaks:

* Contaminated strawberries from Mexico caused hepatitis A in 236 people--mostly schoolchildren--and put thousands of others at risk of contracting the illness.

* Cyclospora made more than 1,000 Americans and Canadians in after they ate raspberries from Guatemala.

* E. coli poisoning outbreaks traced to lettuce caused illness in at least 100 people.

* E. coli cryptosporidium poisoning from unpasteurized apple juice killed at least one person and sickened more than 100. Raw shellfish caused 23 deaths and made nearly 500 people sick.

CSPI and five other organizations, including the Consumer Federation of America and Public Voice for Food and Health Policy, called on President Clinton to create a new independent food agency to address hazards in foods.

RELATED ARTICLE: NOTES

* The home exercise illustrations on p. 7 of the April 1997 issue were drawn by Wendy Wray.

* The next Nutrition Action will be a combined July/August issue. It should be in your mailbox by late July.