FDA head says menu labeling 'thorny' issue

Source: AP-Excite

By MARY CLARE JALONICK

WASHINGTON (AP) - Diners will have to wait a little longer to find calorie counts on most restaurant chain menus, in supermarkets and on vending machines.

Writing a new menu labeling law "has gotten extremely thorny," says the head of the Food and Drug Administration, as the agency tries to figure out who should be covered by it.

The 2010 health care law charged the FDA with requiring chain restaurants and other establishments that serve food to put calorie counts on menus and in vending machines. The agency issued a proposed rule in 2011, but the final rules have since been delayed as some of those non-restaurant establishments have lobbied hard to be exempt.

While the restaurant industry has signed on to the idea and helped to write the new regulations, supermarkets, convenience stores and other retailers that sell prepared food say they want no part of it.

FULL story at link.



Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20130312/DA4VKI5G0.html

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In this March 8, 2010 file photo, the sandwich board at the Panera store in Brookline, Mass shows the calorie count for each item. Diners will have to wait a little longer to find calorie counts on most restaurant chain menus, in supermarkets and on vending machines. Writing a new menu labeling law "has gotten extremely thorny," says the head of the Food and Drug Administration, as the agency tries to figure out who should be covered by it. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)