FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb says the agency “will provide additional, practical guidance” to food retailers by the end of the year so they will be ready to comply with menu-labeling rules when they take effect, which is now scheduled for May 2018. The FDA announced it was going forward with the May 2018 target at the same time New York City agreed in court not to enforce its own labeling law until next May.
New York City’s requirements listing the caloric content of regularly sold items are identical to the federal government’s for restaurants, carry-outs, stores and fast-food stands, said Food Dive. A trade group for food retailers said the settlement would discourage other localities from jumping the gun on enforcement. Menu labeling was part of the 2010 healthcare reform law. The FDA issued preliminary rules in 2014, and in 2015 said labeling would take effect in late 2016. But that was delayed to 2017, and then the Trump administration announced a one-year delay, to May 2018.
“The FDA takes seriously our responsibility to ensure that food is labeled in a manner that provides people with the information they need to make healthy choices,” said Gottlieb in announcing that additional guidance to retailers will be announced by the end of 2017. “These new policy steps should allow covered establishments to implement the requirements by next year’s compliance date.”
The consumer group Center for Science in the Public Interest, a leading supporter of the labels, said, “We’re pleased to see in its statement today that the FDA agrees that Americans deserve to know what they’re eating and that the Agency isn’t planning any further delay in menu labeling.” The CSPI said Congress should reject “special exemptions” from labeling for the pizza, supermarket and convenience store industries.