Mr. Speaker, over the past few months, this government has worked with provincial and territorial partners on the Canadian Healthy Living Strategy encouraging Canadians to eat a balanced diet and be more active.
I am pleased to highlight the initiative announced today by the Canadian restaurant industry. In fact, the major restaurant chains have made a voluntary commitment to apply the industry guidelines aimed at making nutritional information available to their clients.
The program will begin with 23 restaurant chains representing nearly 9,000 establishments throughout the country. And this is just a start. Other companies will be joining this initiative in the months that lie ahead.
By year's end, these restaurants will be providing brochures detailing the nutritional information on the main items on their menus.
The information will be provided in the same format as for food products sold in stores.
Some restaurants have already been providing nutritional information for years but now this information will be more accessible and consistent for clients.
I would like to congratulate the restaurant industry for this excellent initiative.