Massachusetts has adopted tough rules requiring chain restaurants with at least 20 outlets in the state to prominently display calorie information on big boards dangling from ceilings, on printed menus and at drive-through windows. The rule, unanimously adopted by the Massachusetts Public Health Council, will take effect November 1, 2010, and reportedly affects about 50 chain restaurants with nearly 5,300 locations in the state. “This is a major step in the right direction in fighting the obesity epidemic in our state,” Massachusetts Department of Public Health Commissioner John Auerbach was quoted as saying. “We know that providing this information will help our residents make more informed choices.” More than a dozen states are apparently considering similar rules. California passed a similar law in fall 2008, but its regulations do not extend to drive-through restaurants. New York City began enforcing a calorie-posting rule in July 2008 for restaurants with more than…
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The named plaintiff who brought a putative class action for false advertising of healthy menu items against a company that operates chain restaurants across the United States has reportedly agreed to dismiss with prejudice the claims she filed in a federal court in Texas. Paskett v. Brinker Int’l Inc., No. 08-942 (N.D. Tex., dismissed April 20, 2009). The plaintiff alleged that the healthy menu items at Chili’s Grill & Bar, Romano’s Macaroni Grill and On the Border Mexican Grill & Cantina restaurants actually contained higher levels of fat, calories and total carbohydrates than listed on the menus. The named plaintiff has filed similar claims in California against Applebee’s parent company, alleging that she dined at these restaurants because they offered a Weight Watchers menu, which was also purportedly advertised and marketed inaccurately. See LexisNexis® Mealey’s™ Litigation Report, Food Liability, May 2009.
As members of the 111th Congress actively consider how to address food-safety issues and debate in committee whether splitting the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in two would best reform federal oversight, new bills addressing food health and safety continue to be introduced. The most recent include: H.R. 1324 – Introduced March 5, 2009, by Representative Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.), this bill would update national school nutrition standards for foods and beverages not included in school meals. The proposed legislation, with 101 co-sponsors, was referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor. H.R. 1332 – Introduced March 5, 2009, by Representative Jim Costa (D-Calif.), this measure, titled the “Safe Food Enforcement, Assessment, Standards, and Targeting Act of 2009” or “Safe FEAST Act of 2009,” would amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act by strengthening FDA’s authority to inspect records during food-related emergencies, recall contaminated products, accredit food-testing laboratories, and…
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed a lower court ruling that rejected the restaurant industry’s preemption and First Amendment challenge to New York City’s health code provision mandating that certain restaurant chains post calorie information on their menu boards. New York State Rest. Ass’n v. NYC Bd. of Health, No. 08-1892 (2d Cir., decided February 17, 2009). The rule has been in effect since July 2008 and applies to restaurants that are part of chains with at least 15 outlets nationwide. The New York State Restaurant Association contended that the rule was preempted by the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act and infringed its members constitutional rights by compelling speech. According to the court, “In requiring chain restaurants to post calorie information on their menus, New York City merely stepped into a sphere that Congress intentionally left open to state and local governments. Furthermore, although the restaurants are protected…
Multnomah County commissioners have reportedly adopted regulations requiring restaurant chains with 15 or more locations nationwide to display calorie content alongside individual items on their menus. Effective March 12, 2009, the law also requires these establishments to provide information about sodium, saturated fat, trans fat, and carbohydrate content at the point of sale. Restaurants must institute these new policies before the end of the year, when the health department can begin issuing citations and civil fines for violations. “No one says this will solve the problem of obesity in Multnomah County, but it’s an important first step. This is about giving people information. That’s fundamentally different than saying you can’t eat this hamburger, it’s bad for you,” county commissioner Jeff Cogen was quoted as saying. See The Oregonian, February 12, 2009.
Minneapolis and St. Paul are reportedly developing ordinances to require some restaurants to remove trans fats from their menus and to list calories alongside portions. St. Paul would require chain restaurants with 15 or more locations nationwide to abide by both proposed ordinances, while Minneapolis would apply its menu labeling regulation only to chain restaurants and its trans fat ban to all restaurants, groceries and bakeries. The city councils could take both measures under consideration as early as February. Meanwhile, the executive president of the Minnesota Restaurant Association, David Siegel, told reporters that most restaurants have already phased out trans fat in response to public demand. In addition, he noted a growing desire for a federal benchmark with respect to menu labeling laws. “Let’s give information to consumers and create a national standard like we did in grocery stores,” said Siegel, pointing to the cost and frustration of navigating the…
According to NowPublic.com, a self-proclaimed participatory online news network, the food industry, facing legislative initiatives that would require posting calorie and other nutritional information on restaurant menu boards, is fighting back with state-level preemption laws. Ohio recently approved legislation (H.B. 217) giving the state’s Director of Agriculture the sole authority to regulate how and whether food service operations must provide food nutrition information to the public, thus putting an end to the disclosure movement that was apparently gaining momentum at the local level there. Legislation adopted in Georgia (H.B. 1303) would prevent political subdivisions from adopting similar local laws. NowPublic notes that the restaurant industry lost its federal preemption argument when mounting a challenge in court to a menu disclosure law that took effect in New York City. The industry then apparently “changed its strategy” by seeking legislation in Congress that would create federal preemption of calorie posting laws and in…
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…
Several of the nation’s largest food and beverage companies have reportedly agreed to market their products under a common nutritional standard and logo designed to lessen consumer confusion at the supermarket. The “Smart Choices Program” allows participating manufacturers to display a “check mark” logo alongside calorie and serving size information on the front of products that meet specific nutritional thresholds set by a coalition of scientists, retailers and industry experts and based on federal dietary recommendations. These products cannot exceed the program’s limits for total fats, saturated fats, added sugars, or sodium. In addition, they must contain several “nutrients to encourage” that include calcium, potassium, fiber, magnesium, vitamin A, vitamin C, and vitamin E. Fruits and vegetables, whole grain, and low- or no-fat dairy products are also eligible for the marketing claim. “It’s simple, it’s easy-to-use, it’s consensus based, it’s science based,” said one spokesperson for Unilever PLC. “We would hope…
