Cebu City passes ‘half-rice’ law

DOWNSIZE. Diet-conscious diners can soon ask for a half-rice serving in any Cebu city restaurant. The Jollibee chain has been offering “half rice” ahead of the ordinance. (CDN FILE PHOTO)

A “half-rice” serving in restaurants in Cebu City will soon  be a required item in the menu.

To discourage food waste, the Cebu City Council  approved on final reading last week an ordinance  requiring food establishments to offer a half serving of rice as an option for customers.

The ordinance will be reviewed by the mayor for his signature.

It takes effect after the full text is published in local newspapers following a three month  transition period to give time for eateries to adjust.

The penalty for violators is a fine of P1,500 to P5,000 and suspension of business permits.

No specific size is defined for a  “half rice” serving as long as it is equivalent to half the serving of one order of rice in the establishment.

The Rice Conservation Ordinance of Cebu City was passed in response to the call of the Department of Agriculture to local government units, said the authors Councilors Mary Ann Delos Santos and Hanz Abella.

Establishments offering buffets are exempted but have to  tell customers about the need to avoid wasting rice.

The ordinance covers all businesses and institutions involved in the preparation and sale of meals like  restaurants, schools, offices, hospitals, cafeterias, catering operations, and fast food chains.

Studies by the Food and Nutrition Research Institute showed that every Filipino wastes about two tablespoons of cooked rice or  nine grams of uncooked rice every meal.

“In 2010 alone, our wasted rice is equivalent to 13 percent of the total rice imports of the same year, amounting to P6.2 billion or the consumption of nearly P2.6 million Filipinos in a year,” said the ordinance.

The City Health Department  will  conduct monthly inpsections to implement the ordinance with the aid of the CIty Legal Office.

Violators will be fined P1,500 for the first offense, P3,000 for second offense and P4,000 for third offense.

A fine of P5,000 and suspension of the business permit for every month of continued non-compliance will be imposed on the fourth and final offense. The CHD will be conducting monthly inspections of violating establishments.

Support
Ma. Teresa Chan, president of the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI), supported the passage of an ordinance that would require food stores to include ‘half-rice’ in their menu.

Chan said the measure gives consumers an option and encourages them to be conscious and to support the national government’s campaign for rice conservation.

“The more options that the consumers have, the better.  The rationale here is rice conservation and most of the times maraming natitirang kanin,” she told Cebu Daily News in a phone interview.

“Talagang they (the city council) are serious about it,” Chan said when told of the fines to be imposed on violators of the ordinance.

CCCI, she said, would help in disseminating the half-rice ordinance to their members.

“It is part of the chamber’s objective to disseminate relevant laws, ordinances and policies to its members,” she told CDN.

The chamber has over 600 active members of which about 50 to 100 are engaged in the food business.

Their members still doesn’t include members of HRAC which is one of CCCI’s affiliate groups.

Chan said that adopting the ‘half-rice’ policy will not be costly for businesses because they need not buy new equipments for it.  They only have to include the option in their menu and direct their food servers to also serve half-rice using their existing standard measurement.

“I don’t think restaurants will make a fuss about it,” he said.

Serving half rice may even be beneficial to businesses.  She said that restaurants who charge P30 for a full serving of rice could charge P16 to P17 for half-rice.

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