Seven years after the provision became law, retail food establishments ranging from sit-down restaurants and cafeterias to delicatessens, fast-food outlets, coffee shops and bakeries will have to include calorie counts on their menus for the foods they sell. The deadline for compliance will fall in May 2017, says FDA, one year after its final guidance document to the food industry appears in the Federal Register, expected in coming days.
Menu labeling was part of the 2010 health-reform law. “Customers have been waiting for calorie information and, finally, in a year, they will be able to benefit from it,” said Margo Wootan of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, which campaigned since 2003 to put the information on printed menus and menu boards.
A trade group for grocers said the FDA document, released unexpectedly on Friday, failed to make allowances for the practicalities that supermarkets face in running a salad bar or a carry-out counter. As a result, the Food Marketing Institute urged Congress to amend the law and give grocers more flexibility, such as using one sign next to a salad bar. The bill “would deny consumers calorie information on menu boards inside pizza and some other chain restaurants,” said CSPI. “It’s unlikely to advance in the Senate,” although the House passed the bill in February.
The menu-label rule applies to standard items offered to customers by food establishments with 20 or more locations. The FDA provided a long list of the types of establishments, such as concession stands at amusement parks and movie theaters, that must comply with the law, and examples of those that are exempt, such as schools, prisons and meals prepared for patients at hospitals as well as independent operations and small chains.
Initially, the FDA said the labeling rule would take effect on Dec. 1 of this year. Under pressure from Congress, the agency said in March that it would allow a one-year grace period after it issued the final guidance, making May 2017 the deadline for compliance. A rider, Section 735, in the USDA-FDA funding bill awaiting a vote in the House also calls for a one-year allowance for companies to comply with the labeling requirements.
The FDA said it will hold menu-labeling workshops in coming months to answer specific questions from food retailers. It also will answer questions submitted by email.