The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health held a hearing yesterday examining H.R. 2017, the Common Sense Nutrition Disclosure Act.  The bipartisan legislation would revise the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) menu labeling regulations by providing covered restaurants and other retail food establishments more flexibility in how they provide calorie information to consumers.

Sonja Hubbard, CEO of E-Z Mart, testified at the hearing on behalf of NACS. Ms. Hubbard urged the committee to pass H.R. 2017 as expeditiously as possible in light of the rapidly approaching December 1st compliance deadline under FDA’s rules.  “The convenience store industry strongly supports . . . efforts to provide consumers the nutrition information they want,” Ms. Hubbard said in her testimony. “The industry simply wants to be able to provide this information in ways that are practical for our businesses and useful for our customers.”

Representative Cathy McMorris Rogers, the primary author of H.R. 2017, announced at the hearing yesterday that she plans to eliminate language in her legislation that would effectively exempt many convenience stores and grocery stores from the menu labeling requirements.  This announcement, which NACS had anticipated, is part of an ongoing effort on the part of Rep. McMorris Rogers and other supporters of her legislation – including NACS – to address the primary concerns that the bill’s opponents have voiced to date, in the hopes that doing so would increase support for the legislation and expedite its passage. Now, “we can discuss the merits of this important legislation beyond this one” issue, Ms. McMorris Rogers said at the hearing.

H.R. 2017 contains a number of provisions that would minimize unnecessary compliance burdens without compromising consumers’ ability to receive nutrition information.  The bill also revises the enforcement regime to ensure that the regulations are not unreasonably punitive. “H.R. 2017 is sound legislation for food retailers and, more importantly, the consumers that they serve,” Ms. Hubbard testified yesterday.  

A consistent theme of yesterday’s hearing was that convenience stores acquire, prepare, and sell food in a manner that is different than chain restaurants.  “Many chain restaurants sell the same food offerings, prepared in the same way, and displayed on the same menu, and all of their locations,” Ms. Hubbard testified. “That is not true of the convenience store industry.  Convenience stores – even those that are part of the same chain – sell different foods based on their location and market demand.” These distinctions, Ms. Hubbard said, inject a level of complexity and cost into menu labeling compliance efforts that the chain restaurant industry will generally not have to assume. 

Also testifying in support of the legislation were representatives of the supermarket industry and the pizza restaurant industry.  A representative from Dunkin’ Brands, which has been working closely with the National Restaurant Association to oppose the legislation, as well as a representative from the Center for Science in the Public Interest, testified in opposition to the bill. 

Although the timing for future consideration of the legislation is uncertain, yesterday’s hearing was an important, successful step in moving the bill forward.  

You can read NACS’s complete testimony here.

You can watch a webcast of yesterday’s hearing here.