Health Groups Urge White House to Require Calorie Labels for All Retail Food Establishments

Health and consumer organizations have urged the Obama administration to provide calorie labeling in “all retail food establishments that sell restaurant-type food, including supermarkets, convenience stores, movie theaters, casinos, bowling alleys, stadium, cafes in superstores, and hotels.”

In a May 16, 2012, letter, representatives of more than 20 organizations in
the National Alliance for Nutrition & Activity (NANA) took issue with the Food
and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) definition of “retail food establishments”
as outlined in an April 2011 proposal for nutritional menu labeling for chain
restaurants and vending machines mandated under the Affordable Care Act.
The proposed rule was covered in Issue 389 of this Update.

NANA argued that the definition would not only exclude other venues but
“significantly limit the ability of consumers to make informed choices by
reducing the number of venues providing calorie labeling.” In addition, the
group advocates the inclusion of alcohol labeling in FDA’s final rule, noting
that to “exempt it out would mean that consumers would not be provided
with nutrition information for the fifth-largest source of calories in adults’
diets.” The group also champions more explicit nutritional labeling on vending
machines, asserting that FDA’s draft rules that allow labeling signs next
to, above or below a vending machine make the signs “unlikely to be in a
person’s field of vision when making a selection.”