National Restaurant Association Sues NYC over Salt Labeling Law
The National Restaurant Association (NRA) has petitioned a New York
state court for a declaratory judgment stating that a New York City
regulation requiring restaurants to post warnings on menu items high in
sodium is arbitrary and capricious as applied. Nat’l Restaurant Assoc.
v. New York City Dep’t of Health & Mental Hygiene, No. 654024/2015
(N.Y. Sup. Ct., filed December 3, 2015).
The complaint compares the regulation to the city’s 2012 attempt to
prohibit sales of soft drinks in cups larger than 16 ounces, alleging that
the New York City Board of Health is merely “looking to grab headlines
as the purveyor of ‘first in the nation’ health initiatives, notwithstanding
that, in truth, its sodium regulation is illogical, unlawful, and more likely
to mislead consumers about sodium health than help them.”
NRA argues that the regulation, which took effect December 1, 2015, is
“riddled with arbitrary exclusions and exemptions that are unrelated to
the stated purpose of the rule,” because it only applies to food service
establishments or vendors that have more than 15 locations nationally.
The mandate also excludes unprepared foods sold at grocery stores, the
complaint asserts, despite that “[t]wo-thirds of dietary sodium comes
from grocery items, not from restaurants at all.”
The complaint also challenges the thresholds set forth in the statute,
arguing that the limit of 2,300 reflects an “increasingly controversial
view about sodium consumption” and distinguishes sodium from toxic
substances that require warnings such as lead paint. Further, “[t]he
Sodium Mandate provides that the Icon must appear next to any menu
item, or combination offered, that contain 2,300 milligrams or more of
sodium per discrete serving unit,” the complaint explains. “In addition,
if any option on a menu item results in a combination meal with 2,300
mg of sodium or more, or if any possible version of a menu item contains
2,300 mg of sodium or more, the Icon must be used next to the item.
These definitions and requirements result in a confusing use of the Icon
and render the Sodium Mandate more misleading to consumers than
helpful.” NRA also points out that using the same threshold for single
menu items and entire meals can further confuse consumers.
“Once again, the board has acted without any legislative guidance and
improperly sidestepped the people’s representatives on the City Council,”
Angelo Amador, NRA’s regulatory counsel, said in a December 4, 2015,
press release. “Its actions, as with the beverage ban before it, are arbitrary
in their scope, reach and application.”
Issue 586
