FDA gives foodservice retailers more time to comply
In response to several requests from restaurateurs and retailers for an extension, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has pushed back the compliance date for new menu-labeling requirements.
Businesses now have until Dec. 1, 2016, to adapt to the Affordable Care Act mandated ruling that requires calorie information for nearly every food item be listed on menus and menu boards. The original deadline was Dec. 1, 2015.
Michael R. Taylor, FDA deputy commissioner for foods and veterinary medicine, said in a release that the FDA “takes very seriously the extensive input it has received from stakeholders” and “agrees additional time is necessary for the agency to provide further clarifying guidance to help facilitate efficient compliance.”
Covered under the rule are restaurants or similar retail food establishments that are part of a chain with 20 or more locations doing business under the same name (regardless of the type of ownership) and offering for sale substantially the same menu items. Click here for more details on the regulation.
Despite the extension, efforts are ongoing to revise the menu-labeling requirements. The National Grocers Association
(NGA) and NACS have shown support for H.R. 2017, also known as the Common Sense Nutrition Disclosure Act, which would grant restaurants and other retail food establishments more flexibility in how they provide calorie information to consumers.
“We will continue to work with our champions in Congress … to pass H.R. 2017, which reduces the burdens of this regulation and provides the necessary reforms and flexibility to our members,” said Greg Ferrara, NGA vice president of public affairs, in a release.
A temporary fix for infrastructure
One day before the Highway Trust Fund was set to expire, the Senate voted to pass a short-term extension to keep funds for highway and mass transit projects solvent through Oct. 29.
President Barack Obama signed the three-month stopgap bill—the 34th short-term extension Congress has passed since 2009—but called for a long-term solution.
“We can’t keep on funding transportation by the seat of our pants,” Obama told The Washington Times. “I guarantee you that’s not how China, Germany, other countries around the world handle their infrastructure.”
The Senate also passed a six-year highway bill that they plan to use in negotiations with the House this fall to reach a long-term deal.
Indicators
New York is poised to raise its minimum wage for fast-food workers to $15 an hour by the end of 2018 for New York City and by mid-2021 for the rest of the state. The raise, which represents a 70% increase from the current $8.75 an hour, is expected to get final approval from the state labor commissioner.
Vermont’s sales tax on sugary drinks, which is expected to yield about $8 million in revenue. The tax, which went into effect July 1, was enacted to help close a $113 million gap between projected state spending and revenue.
The number of bills addressing genetically modified organisms that lawmakers introduced in the 2015 legislative sessions, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Fifteen of the bills were enacted, while 57 bills are pending and 29 failed. Of the 15, nine urge science-based data to be used in future GMO regulations and four relate to food-labeling standards.
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