March 26, 2003
Contact: Sue Hensley (703) 582-8679, Erica Bohm (858) 541-2049

(Washington, DC) As the nation's 870,000 restaurants continue to provide a wide variety of options in a variety of venues for its consumers, the National Restaurant Association today released research information that demonstrates how the restaurant industry is truly an industry of choice.

"The restaurant industry has long prided itself in providing consumers myriad options as well as the freedom to customize their meals to meet their dietary preferences and needs," said Steven C. Anderson, president and chief executive officer of the National Restaurant Association. "Our research indicates that 70 percent of Americans customize their food choices – which means an overwhelming majority of people aren't just simply ordering off-the-menu anymore. They are tailoring their order, and ordering exactly what they desire.

"Ordering a meal in a restaurant is personalized – it is far different than buying a can of peas. Because of this ability to customize any food item, mandatory nutrition labeling in restaurants as suggested by industry critics is unworkable," added Anderson, who recently released research findings on customization during his remarks before restaurant and foodservice professionals at the 7th Annual California Restaurant Industry Conference in Santa Monica, sponsored by UCLA (University of California Los Angeles).

According to Association research, the make-up of a sandwich consisting of just five items or toppings (such as bread, meat, cheese, lettuce, tomato), can be ordered in 120 ways. A sandwich comprised of 10 items or toppings could provide 3,628,800 combinations. Furthermore, an individual presented with 15 items for a sub or sandwich has 1.3 trillion combinations – making it physically impossible to label for all of these combinations.

Anderson noted that the majority of quickservice restaurants have been proactive in providing nutritional information to consumers – through brochures, their web sites and 1-800 numbers – and they have done this without government mandates.