Philadelphia Adopts Tough Menu Labeling Measures
The Philadelphia City Council this week adopted menu labeling laws that will require chain restaurants with more than 15 outlets to provide extensive nutritional information on printed menus and to list calories on menu boards. Starting January 1, 2010, national and local chains must disclose calories, saturated and trans fats, sodium, and carbohydrates on printed menus in the same typeface used for
food descriptions and price. Opposed by the Pennsylvania Restaurant Association for its “one-size-fits-all” approach, the regulation also drew criticism from some council members who viewed the bill as an unnecessary burden on the restaurants. The Center for Science in the Public Interest, however, praised the new rules as a “useful incentive to the restaurant industry to expand the number and variety of healthy choices on their menus.” See CSPI Press Release, November 6, 2008; Philadelphia Inquirer, November 7, 2008; Meatingplace.com, November 10, 2008.
In a related development, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported on the efforts of local King County businesses to adapt to menu labeling laws that take effect in January 2009. Some smaller operations have apparently found it difficult to estimate nutritional information for menu items prepared to order and by hand. They fear that inaccurate labeling will result in lawsuits like the one facing Applebee’s after a consumer group sent meals to independent laboratories for nutritional testing. “This is seafood. It’s not dehydrated potatoes where you get the same portion sizes,” said Bob Donegan, the president of Seattle-based Ivar’s Seafood.
In addition, restaurateurs must “find that fine line” between appealing to customers who want healthier options and those seeking value, according to Robert Ott, chief executive officer of Claim Jumper Restaurants. “You might help the people saying, ‘I want to see smaller sizes,’ but there’s another group of people who don’t care about that, and you have to balance both,” Ott was quoted as saying. See The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, November 11, 2008.
