FDA Extends Deadline for Listing Calories on Menus

Diners will have to wait a little longer before calorie labels appear on the menus of all chain restaurants.

The USA Food and Drug Administration said it would extend The deadline for chain restaurants to disclose calorie counts on menus by a year to December 1, 2016.

Further, several lawmakers, including a few who strongly favored the labeling rules, earlier this year called for FDA to delay the compliance date (“To Your Health”, Washington Post, 7/9).

The rule requires restaurant chains with 20 or more stores to list calorie information for nearly every food item, and a “succinct statement” that “2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice, but calorie needs vary”, on each menu board.

The requirement, created by The FDA as part of the Affordable Care Act to increase awareness of The obesity risks represented by fatty, sugary foods, will go into affect December 1, 2016, The FDA announced.

Everything from sit-down restaurants to bakeries to pizza joints are covered by the new rule, as are alcoholic cocktails when they appear on menus.

The FDA will issue a draft guidance in August, Gasparro reports, and “will work flexibly and collaboratively with individual companies making a good-faith effort to comply with the law”, as said by Michael Taylor, its deputy commissioner for foods. Those businesses said that the rules would be more burdensome for them than they would be for restaurants, which typically have more limited offerings. The agency agreed that additional time and clarifying guidance would help facilitate compliance with the final specific requirements for presenting the calorie information.

“We have been in full support of a nationwide, uniform menu labeling standard since the very start”, said Dawn Sweeney, the association’s CEO. A few had expected a delay, though, after the pushback from the industry. The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday agreed to requests of Congress and food industry groups to give retailers time until December 2016 to adhere to the rules.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro, a longtime menu labeling advocate, criticized the FDA’s further delay. “It takes time to change signage, packaging and data systems – I understand that”.

“Businesses, particularly small businesses, will need appropriate time to budget and plan accordingly to meet the rule’s requirements to provide nutrition information to consumers that is understandable and clear, and therefore of the greatest value to consumers”, the senators wrote.