WASHINGTON, D.C. – After
three years, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has forwarded final rules
relating to menu
labeling to the White House Office of Management and Budget, Politico
reports.
The regulations, which
were required by the Affordable Care Act, mandate that chain restaurants with
more than 20 locations and vending machines display calorie counts on menu
items. Now that the White House has the final version, the 90-day review
process before implementation begins.
The agency has yet to
clarify what changes, if any, have been made to the final rules. However, FDA
Commissioner Margaret Hamburg informed Congress at a House appropriations
agriculture subcommittee panel last week that she tried to balance a consumer’s
need for information with a restaurant’s need to do business.
“We’ve been working on the
menu labeling rule for a long time and have gotten lots of feedback and input
from all the various stakeholders,” she said. “We have been trying very hard to
find a system that is meaningful for public health but truly implementable and
economically viable.”
NACS and its members have
pushed hard for Congress to pass the Common Sense Nutrition Disclosure Act (H.R. 1249
and S. 1756),
which was introduced in the House by Representatives Cathy McMorris Rodgers
(R-WA) and Loretta Sanchez (D-CA) and in the Senate by Senators Roy Blunt
(R-MO) and Angus King (I-ME). The act would define a regulated facility as one
in which more than 50% of its revenues were derived from restaurant type food.