NACS, NGA Ask FDA to Stay Final Menu Rule Effective Date

The two associations filed a citizen petition outlining why the rules should be reconsidered.

April 17, 2017

WASHINGTON – Earlier this month, NACS and the National Grocers Association (NGA) filed a citizen petition to stay and reconsider the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Final Rule on Food Labeling. The associations asked the commissioner to hold off on the effective date, currently May 5, 2017.

The petition requested the stay and re-evaluation because of the confusion the final rule and its guidance create and of how much compliance would cost non-restaurant retailers. NACS and NGA pointed out in their petition that agency staff can’t provide clarification on such questions as the distinction between a menu (which would require calorie data) and an advertisement or marketing piece (which would not). Instead, the staff “admitted that they had not made determinations on these kinds of very basic compliance questions.”

The petition concluded that “clearly, serious compliance and coverage questions remain under the Final Rule, and even if FDA were to address all of them today, there would not be sufficient time for businesses to be in compliance on May 5th. The impossibility of compliance for many businesses is reason enough to stay the Final Rule.”

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