House Passes Menu Labeling Rule

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a bill to amend the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act that would reduce nutrition- and calorie-labeling requirements on menus and bar civil liability for any restaurant or retail food establishment accused of violating the law’s requirements. The Common Sense Nutrition Disclosure Act would allow restaurants to use average calorie counts or ranges on menus instead of exact counts and would permit online-only calorie disclosures. The bill would permit “reasonable-basis” disclosures that allow for variations in serving sizes, human error in preparation or variations in ingredients. It would also allow restaurants to decide whether to disclose content for a whole item or on a per-serving basis.