In early May, an FDA regulation will take effect that requires restaurants to list calories on their menus. The American Pizza Community, a trade group for the pizza industry, is trying to persuade Congress to dramatically weaken the “menu labeling” requirement for their restaurants, says the Washington Post in a story produced in partnership with FERN.
The trade group says the rules should be different for pizza sales. Under a bill that it backs, chains that sell at least half of their pizzas over the phone or via the internet would not have to post calories in their stores. “In other words, takeout restaurants would get a pass,” says the story by Jane Black. “Even if they did disclose calorie counts, they would no longer have to list total calories, only those in a single serving, the size of which would be determined by the restaurant.”
The legislation, called the Common Sense Nutrition Disclosure Act, has not been called for a vote in the House or Senate this year, but supporters “are working to slip it into the 2017 appropriations bill, which must pass by April 28 to keep the government running,” writes Black.
Congress is in recess until April 23 so it will have limited time to act on the government funding bill. Lawmakers probably will have few chances to amend a “must-pass” bill.