The Quezon City government will be requiring restaurants, fast food chains, and other food establishments to post the calorie counts of food items in their menus.

This after Mayor Joy Belmonte signed the ordinance passed by the City Council.

“Nais nating maging ligtas ang ating QCitizens sa non-communicable diseases. Kapag may calorie labeling, may kapangyarihan ang Qcitizen na pumili ng masustansyang pagkain dahil hawak nila ang tamang impormasyon (We want our QCitizens to be safe from non-communicable diseases. With calorie labeling, Qcitizens have the power to choose healthy foods because they have the right information),” she said.

Belmonte also said that carinderia or small eateries are not included in the ordinance.

“Hindi po sakop ng ordinansa ang ating maliliit na kainan. Pero bibigyan pa natin sila ng insentibo kapag nagkusa sila na maglagay ng calorie count sa kanilang regular na menu (Our eateries are not covered by the ordinance. But we will give them an incentive if they take the initiative to put a calorie count in their regular menu),” she said.

 “We commend the Quezon City Government for this groundbreaking initiative. This is the first of its kind in the country and as a pioneer in calorie-labeling, we hope that QC inspires more cities and municipalities to do the same,” said Atty. Sophia San Luis, executive director of public interest law group ImagineLaw. 

According to the QC Health Department data, almost one in five adult residents have high blood pressure. In 2018 alone, 19.9% of school-age children and 43.0% of adults were found to be overweight and obese.

To address this, the city committed to building a food environment that will improve the overall health of its residents.

In the first year of its implementation, the ordinance will cover QC restaurants or food businesses that are part of a food chain or franchise with five or more branches in the country. In the second year, it will cover food establishments with two or more branches. In the third year, it will cover all restaurants or food businesses. 

Meanwhile, barangay micro businesses and micro, small, and medium enterprises like ambulant vendors, hawkers and carinderia owners are exempted from the ordinance.