This bill would revise the nutritional information that certain restaurants and retail food establishments have to disclose to consumers. The requirements came from a 2014 rule on labeling from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that is scheduled to take effect on May 7, 2018.
The rule applies to restaurants and other food retailers that receive more than half of their revenue from food sales. It establishes specific nutrition facts that food vendors must provide, including the number of:
Calories in the whole menu item;
Servings and the calories per serving;
Calories per common unit of a food item for multi-serving items that are divided before serving.
Under the rule, nutritional information can be given on a remote-access menu (like an internet menu) for businesses where food orders are mostly placed off the premises. Establishments with self-serve food can comply with the requirements for restaurants or place signs with nutritional information next to each food item.
Under this bill, a company’s nutrient content disclosures would be considered to have a “reasonable basis” if they fall within acceptable allowances for variation, like serving size, ingredients, and accidental human error.
Establishments with standard menu items that come in different flavors, varieties, or combinations that are listed as a single menu item would be allowed to determine and disclose nutritional information using specified methods or those used by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Regulations created as a result of this legislation cannot take effect earlier than two years after the final regulations are released.