Industry Applauds House Bill Amending Menu Labeling Regulations

Retailers and grocery associations gave a round of applause for the House of Representatives’ passage of a bill that would roll back proposed menu labeling regulations as part of the federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.

Retailers were concerned that the regulations as passed under the Obama administration would leave them liable to fines and penalties and would be burdensome to meet. The bill, which was passed this week and introduced by Reps. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and Tony Cardenas (D-CA), would clarify the Food and Drug Administration’s final rule on menu labeling to create flexibility for grocers by providing liability and enforcement protection for good-faith compliance efforts, and would allow the use of prominent menu boards for salad bars and food displays. 

Jennifer Hatcher, FMI chief public policy officer, says the efforts demonstrate both Congress’ and food retailers’ interest in supplying standardized nutrition information to customers without worrying about penalties for a small mistake. 

“Food retailers go to great lengths to provide their customers with the nutritional information they desire, including employing dietitians in nearly 90% of supermarkets," Hatcher said in a statement. "This legislation gets rid of the 'gotcha state' and allows food retailers to provide meaningful nutrition information to their customers without the fear of penalties of fines for simple errors."

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Peter Larkin, president and CEO of NGA, called the bill a "common sense solution to a burdensome regulation that was applied as a one-size-fits-all approach to vastly different industries." 

“Independent supermarket operators are committed to providing their customers with accurate nutritional information, but need the flexibility to implement the rule across a multitude of store formats, all of which operate much differently than a chain restaurant," he said.