The Importance of Nutritional Values on Menus to Diabetics

Share the Blog:

People dining at a restaurant

 

Since December 2016, nutrition labeling has been mandatory for packaged foods. But this does not apply to menus. It is only mandatory to label possible allergy-causing substances, but not the carbohydrates of drinks and food. However, insulin-dependent people with diabetes (type 1 and type 2), who also wear diabetic socks, must assess this in order to be able to safely adjust their insulin dose. Many sufferers, therefore, avoid restaurants in order not to risk hyperglycemia or hypoglycemia. Thus, many people with diabetes are excluded from social participation.

With the beginning of World Diabetes Day, they are therefore calling for an e-mail campaign aimed at Food Minister Julia Klöckner and the President of the German Hotel and Restaurant Association (DEHOGA) Guido Zöllick to demand that in the future the identification of nutritional values such as calorific value, protein, carbohydrates and fat on menus will become mandatory.

Without an exact amount of carbohydrates, insulin therapy in blind flight threatens

November 14 is World Diabetes Day. The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) expects an increase to up to 12.4 million affected people by 2040. For all of them, mandatory nutrition labelling on menus would be a great relief. “Choosing a dish in a restaurant can become a dangerous bag of miracles for people with diabetes. Since they can only estimate how many carbohydrates the various dishes contain, they fly blind with their therapy when they go out to eat,” says Nicole Mattig-Fabian, Managing Director of diabetesDE – Deutsche Diabetes-Hilfe. Above all, the approximately 2.4 million insulin-dependent people with diabetes in Germany (type 1 and type 2) need to know the carbohydrate content of the food and drink in order to adjust their insulin dose correctly.

“Digital Alliance Type 2” invites you to participate in an e-mail campaign

“Many sufferers, therefore, avoid eating out of the house and go to restaurants less often in order not to risk hyperglycemia or hypoglycemia. In this way, they are excluded from social participation,” adds Mattig-Fabian. That is why the “Digital Alliance Type 2”, an association of 18 diabetes organizations and specialist publishers, invites as many people with diabetes as possible, their relatives and friends, people at risk, and interested parties to support the campaign with one click. The e-mail campaign “Nutritional values on menus must become mandatory” is aimed directly at Food Minister Julia Klöckner and the President of the German Hotel and Restaurant Association (DEHOGA) Guido Zöllick.

“Let’s raise our diabetes voice together and join in! The identification of crucial nutritional values (calorific value, protein, carbohydrates, and fat) on menus must become mandatory,” Harry Wijnvoord, cult presenter and himself affected by type 2 diabetes, also calls on the diabetes community to participate.

𐌢