#SubHealth Reviews Commonsense Bipartisan Legislation to Improve Menu-Labeling Requirements

Press Release

The Subcommittee on Health, chaired by Rep. Joe Pitts (R-PA), today held a hearing to discuss bipartisan legislation regarding the health law's menu-labeling requirements. H.R. 2017, the Common Sense Nutrition Disclosure Act, authored by committee member and GOP Conference Chair Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), will provide clarity and flexibility for small businesses from some of the health care law's most costly and burdensome regulations regarding menu-labeling requirements.

"The legislation will help small business owners, franchisees, as well as consumers who want easy access to accurate nutrition information. Covered establishments, including pizza delivery businesses and grocery stores, will be subject to a cumbersome, rigid and costly regulatory compliance process to avoid violations and possible criminal prosecution," said Pitts. "Fixing this burdensome regulation could benefit tens of thousands of restaurants, grocery stores, convenience stores and small business owners."

Full Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) illustrated the cost the administration's regulation would have on Domino's, a Michigan-based company. Upton commented, "Domino's has 34 million different potential menu combinations. It has an online calculator that determines the nutrition information for your particular order and 91 percent of their orders are placed online. Requiring in-store information for 34 million potential menu items would cost each store an average of $4,700 per year-- and it wouldn't address the ultimate goal of informing consumers."

McMorris Rodgers also explained, "H.R. 2017 is simple -- clarify the intent of this nearly 400 page regulation so that businesses can comply with it and so that consumers have access to caloric information. This is commonsense legislation."

Ms. Sonja Yates Hubbard, testifying on behalf of the National Association of Convenience Stores, said of the legislation, "The Food and Drug Administration's menu-labeling regulations have serious flaws and appear to have been designed for chain restaurants rather than the wide variety of formats in which food is sold. ... Unless the regulations are revised, consumers' access to a wide variety of affordable food options may be limited. … H.R. 2017 is sound legislation for food retailers and, more importantly, the consumers that they serve."

Mr. Israel O'Quinn, testifying on behalf of the Food Marketing Institute, added, "The supermarket industry supports the Common Sense Nutrition Disclosure Act of 2015 and appreciates the Health Subcommittee considering the impact of FDA's final menu labeling regulations on grocery stores. … The Common Sense Nutrition Disclosure Act of 2015 helps address fundamental problems with FDA's final menu-labeling regulations."

Ms. Lynn Liddle, testifying on behalf of American Pizza Community, explained that while more time would help in the effort to provide valuable information to consumers, a delay alone to comply with the regulation as written is not a solution. "The job of calorie labeling won't be an easy one -- but we think it's worth it. People have a right to know what they're eating, which is why we have been voluntarily disclosing calorie information in one form or another for 14 years. But to get ready, computer programming, materials design, nutritional research and operational systems will need to be put in place. So we've asked for more time to get it done. But let me be clear: we in no way see a delay in the rules as a solution. We must have this legislative fix."

Source