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Secondhand
Smoke in Restaurants
Benefits of a Smoke-Free Restaurant |
How to Approach Restaurants to Become Smoke-Free
| Smoke-Free Can Be Good for Business
When eating out, you want to be comfortable and enjoy
your food. You certainly don’t want your dining spoiled by toxic chemicals floating
around in the air. Yet, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, that’s
exactly what happens when someone lights a cigarette.
Restaurants that allow smoking can have six times the
pollution of a busy highway. Secondhand smoke has many of the same poisons as the air
around toxic waste dumps.
Separate smoking and nonsmoking sections in restaurants
cannot eliminate your exposure to the toxins from secondhand smoke. Ventilation systems
are designed to efficiently circulate air within an enclosed environment, not to filter
and clean it. It is very difficult to have a truly smoke-free section in a restaurant.
The greatest benefit, of course, is the removal of all
the health risks associated with secondhand tobacco smoke. Plus:
- Clean air allows you to be more aware of the smell and taste of your food.
- Clothes and hair won’t smell like stale smoke after leaving the restaurant.
- Surveys show that 80 to 90% of nonsmokers ask to be seated in the nonsmoking section of
restaurants when one is available.
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- Talk to or write a letter to the owners or managers of your favorite restaurants. Explain
the facts about secondhand smoke. Tell them that it doesn't make much sense for a
restaurant to go to great lengths to protect its food from contamination, yet still allow
smoking. For example, why would a manager prohibit cooks from smoking in the cooking area,
yet allow people to smoke in the dining room? Encourage your friends to take this action
with their favorite restaurants. The more that people are aware of the dangers of
secondhand smoke, the more successful we'll all be at eliminating our exposure to it.
- If
any restaurants in your community have not even established separate nonsmoking sections,
ask them to do so -- as a good first step. In restaurants that have such divisions, always
ask to be seated as far as possible from where people are smoking. That is especially
important if there are children with you.
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- Tobacco companies may try to convince restaurants that they will lose business if they
prohibit smoking. However, a number of studies have shown that the passage of smoke-free
ordinances do not hurt restaurant business. Some restaurants even report an
improvement in business, thanks to attracting more nonsmoking customers who want to avoid
smoky restaurants. It helps to remember that three-fourths of adult Americans do not
smoke.
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Related Links
Taking Action Against Secondhand
Smoke
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