Four out of five Americans support the federal requirement that chain restaurants list calorie counts on their menus. An even larger majority — 87 percent — say the Nutrition Facts label is useful, said the consumer group Center for Science in the Public Interest. In a letter to FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, the CSPI said the results of a January poll ought to “reaffirm for FDA the need to move forward with these labeling policies in a timely fashion and include a strong consumer awareness and education effort to help people maximize the positive benefits from them.”
The Trump administration delayed implementation of the menu labeling rule until this May. The House voted early this month on a bill to exempt restaurant chains from the law if at least 50 percent of their sales are made off-premises. Retailers such as pizza chains, convenience stores, and grocery stores would benefit from the exemption, according to the CSPI. The sponsor of the bill, Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, said it “is about flexibility” and would display calorie counts via mobile apps and other digital means.
An updated version of the Nutrition Facts label, which appears on food containers, will take effect at the start of 2020 under an FDA decision announced last year to give food makers more time to prepare. The first update of the 20-year-old Nutrition Facts panel was unveiled by the Obama administration in May 2016 with an implementation date of July 2018.
The CSPI said 87 percent of the respondents to its poll said they believed the updated Nutrition Facts panel will be useful. Some 83 percent agreed that restaurants should provide calorie information on menus and menu boards, the salient requirement of the labeling law. According to the consumer group, 81 percent of respondents said pizza restaurants should do the same.