DALLAS -- Retailers attending a recent seminar on menu-labeling preparedness breathed a collective sigh of relief when they heard some unexpected good news.
In her Countdown to FDA Menu-Labeling Regulations workshop during CSP’s 2016 Convenience Retailing University conference in Dallas, consultant Betsy Craig said the deadline to meet labeling requirements was pushed back to 2018, more than a year beyond the last announced deadline of Dec. 1, 2016.
The extension was approved as part of the $1.1-trillion omnibus spending bill approved by Congress on Dec. 18, 2015, to keep the government operating without an approved federal budget. It officially pushed the deadline out to June 1, 2017.
The actual deadline, however, will be contingent upon when final regulations are set by the Food & Drug Administration, according to the Common Sense Nutrition bill. That bill was approved by the House, but awaits Senate and White House approval, a process that Craig, CEO of MenuTrinfo LLC, Fort Collins, Colo., said would push the deadline back to 2018, “at the earliest.”
Menu labeling sprang from the Affordable Care Act—Obamacare—approved by Congress in 2010 with an original enactment deadline of December 2015. The deadline was pushed back to December 2016 to give the FDA more time to finalize the rules.
Convenience-store retailers have struggled to come to grips with the law because of their varied menus and multiple foodservice offers. To that end, Craig offered these five steps to help retailers prepare:
1. Recipes
Have set recipes in writing, and if a change is made by a supplier, make sure they alert you.
2. Posting
For every raw ingredient you use, have a nutrition panel posted for easy reference.
3. Identify allergens
European rules require posting of allergens—nuts, gluten, dairy, etc.—used in foods. “Expect it to come to the U.S.,” Craig said.
4. Data
Decide which database you will use to configure your nutritional number. Choose one and stick to it.
5. Presentation
How will you post your nutritional numbers, on signage, printed menus or online? Consistency is key.
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