In media statements, both the National Grocers Association and the Food Marketing Institute said that the FDA's decision to include supermarkets in its chain restaurant menu labeling rule was misguided.
“FMI is extremely disappointed that FDA used a five-word clause in the 3,000-page Affordable Care Act to expand chain restaurant menu labeling rules to grocery stores,” said FMI President and CEO Leslie G. Sarasin.
“Grocery stores already provide an abundance of nutritional information well beyond calories and have done so for decades. They should not be pulled into a menu labeling law and regulation designed for a different industry.”
NGA also said that the rule had not been written initially with grocery stores in mind.
"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. Grocery stores are not chain restaurants, which is why Congress did not initially include them in the law,” said NGA President and CEO Peter J. Larkin.
“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. NGA will continue to work with Congress to pass bipartisan legislation to address this regulatory overreach," he said.
The final FDA rules, NGA said, will mandate that "that chain restaurants, similar retail food establishments and vending machines with 20 or more locations list calorie information on their menus and menu boards."
