FDA Could Release Rule Next Week for Restaurant Menu Calorie Counts

CQ HEALTHBEAT NEWS, March 25, 2011 – 3:07 p.m.
By Rebecca Adams, CQ HealthBeat Associate Editor

A proposal that will outline the kind of nutritional information that restaurants will have to put on their menus will be revealed soon, a Food and Drug Administration official said Friday.

A proposed rule had been expected to be released by March 23. Lobbyists are now speculating that the rule will be released as early as Monday, a timetable that an FDA spokesman called “possible.”

“We expect only a short delay,” said FDA spokesman Michael Herndon. “It is a reflection of the complexity of this issue but most importantly an indication that the FDA is willing to work with all interested parties to ensure the best policy is presented.”

The rule was called for in the 2010 health care law (PL 111-48, PL 111-52). Under the law, chain restaurants with more than 20 locations have to post calorie counts for almost every item on their menu boards. Businesses will have to disclose the number of calories in each standard menu item, make additional nutrition information available to customers and provide per-item calorie information for self-service items. More than 200,000 eateries are expected to have to comply. (See related story, CQ HealthBeat, Nov. 4, 2010).

The goal behind the rule is to make Americans more aware of the amount of calories in the foods they eat in restaurants. Consumer advocacy groups say that one reason why the average waistline of Americans has expanded in the past few decades is that people don’t realize how much they are overeating when they dine out.

National Restaurant Association (NRA) officials supported the provision because they viewed a uniform, national policy as a better idea than a patchwork of different policies in various areas. However, they have been eager to see the details of what the FDA will require.

One issue that NRA officials and the International Franchise Association are worried about is that some chain restaurant owners have recently updated their menus because of other state or local regulations that may differ from the national requirements. They hope the agency will take that into consideration and give restaurant owners enough time to transition to the new rules. They also note that the restaurant industry is very diverse and want the FDA to write rules that could be seen as one-size-fits-all policies. They are encouraging the FDA to be as flexible as possible.

“We’re anxious to see what’s in the regulations,” said Sue Hensley, senior vice president of public affairs for the restaurant association.
Rebecca Adams can be reached at radams@cq.com.