FDA Issues Restaurant Menu Calorie Mandate
The days of blissful ignorance are over. Soon you'll know exactly how many calories are in the food at chain restaurants.
The Food and Drug Administration is requiring establishments that sell prepared foods and have 20 or more locations to post the calorie content of food and beverages "clearly and conspicuously" on their menus, menu boards and displays.
The modifications mean calorie content will appear on menus and menu boards in chain restaurants, bakeries, coffee shops, pizza delivery stores, movie theaters, amusement parks and any other locations that are part of a larger chain and serve prepared foods.They will also apply to some prepared foods in supermarkets and convenience stores.
"Americans eat and drink about one-third of their calories away from home, and people today expect clear information about the products they consume," FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg said.
The menu changes were created to make it easier for Americans to pay attention to the calories they consume. It also serves as an incentive for businesses to create healthier menu options.
Calorie labeling became law as part of health overhaul in early 2010. Hamburg says writing the rules was challenging because of the need to navigate concerns of the varied establishments that sell food. Supermarkets, convenience stores and pizza deliverers lobbied hardest against the rules.
Chain venues that serve alcohol will also have to show patrons how many calories are in their beverages. Alcohol had been exempted in rules proposed three years ago.
Even before the new rules were announced Tuesday, some Republicans in Congress had expressed concern that they would be too burdensome.
Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., introduced a bill in the Senate earlier this year that would narrow the scope of the labeling. He vowed to "continue to push back" on the new FDA rules, saying the regulations could hurt job growth and impose unnecessary costs on some businesses.
Companies have until November of 2015 to make the changes.
