WASHINGTON -- NACS and the National Grocers Association (NGA) expressed disapproval of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's final rules on menu labeling, which were released today.
“The FDA has clearly gone beyond congressional intent by expanding the types of businesses that fall under this law to include convenience stores,” said Lyle Beckwith, senior vice president for government relations for NACS (the National Association of Convenience Stores). “The one-size-fits-all approach that FDA announced today would treat convenience stores as though they are restaurants, when in fact they operate very differently."
The rules, as reported in a 21st Century Smoke/CSP Daily News Flash, require "small grocery stores and convenience stores [to follow] the rule if they sell restaurant-type food and are part of a chain with 20 or more locations, doing business under the same name, and offering for sale substantially the same menu items.”
NGA president and CEO Peter J. Larkin agreed the rules are over-reaching.
"The scope of the nutrition labeling provision as proposed by Congress was to provide a uniform standard for chain restaurant menu labeling, not grocery stores," he said. "Grocery stores are not chain restaurants, which is why Congress did not initially include them in the law. We are disappointed that the FDA's final rules will capture grocery stores, and impose such a large and costly regulatory burden on our members."
The rules require that calorie information be listed on menus and menu boards in chain restaurants and "similar retail food establishments," meaning grocery and convenience stores. Creation of the rules was required by the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).
“Americans eat and drink about one-third of their calories away from home, and people today expect clear information about the products they consume,” said FDA Commissioner Margaret A. Hamburg, M.D. “Making calorie information available on chain restaurant menus and vending machines is an important step for public health that will help consumers make informed choices for themselves and their families.”
Covered food establishments will be required to "clearly and conspicuously display calorie information" for standard items on menus and menu boards, next to the name or price of the item. Seasonal menu items offered for sale as temporary menu items, daily specials and condiments for general use typically available on a counter or table are exempt from the labeling requirements.
The menu labeling final rule also requires covered establishments to provide, upon consumer request and as noted on menus and menu boards, written nutrition information about total calories, total fat, calories from fat, saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, sodium, total carbohydrates, fiber, sugars and protein.
Both NACS and NGA said they will continue to lobby for a tighter definition of a restaurant.
"It is now up to the bipartisan, bicameral opponents of this regulatory overreach to enact legislation introduced in both houses of Congress that reasonably defines a restaurant as a business that derives at least 50% of revenue from prepared food," said Beckwith.
Meanwhile, the National Restaurant Association, which pushed for the rules to be included as a requirement of ObamaCare, said it is satisfied with how the regulation turned out.
“(We) strongly believe in the importance of providing nutrition information to consumers to empower them to make the best choices for their dietary needs,” said NRA president Dawn Sweeney. “We believe that the Food and Drug Administration has positively addressed the areas of greatest concern with the proposed regulations and is providing the industry with the ability to implement the law in a way that will most benefit consumers."
The rule is scheduled to go into effect in one year.
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