One of These Things Is Not Like the Others

By: Leslie G. Sarasin, President and CEO, Food Marketing Institute

“One of these things is not like the others,
One of these things just doesn't belong,
Can you tell which thing is not like the others
By the time I finish my song?”
- Sesame Street®, One of These Things (is Not Like The Others)  

Chain restaurants and supermarkets are not the same.  Their fundamental differences are many, but among the important ones is that the vast majority of grocery stores do not have menus or menu boards for most of their products.  Unfortunately,  the U.S. Food and Drug Administration refuses to acknowledge the difference between ordering a “#4” on a menu board at a chain restaurant and shopping at a grocery store.

Clarity cannot come soon enough, as FMI’s food retail members must be compliant by December 1, 2015, with still-unknown and unpublished guidance from the regulatory agency on how to retrofit a labeling program designed for a restaurant into grocery store formats with more than 20 locations.

Fortunately, over the last two weeks, we’ve witnessed a large number of bi-partisan Senate advocates step forward to support our argument that FDA must specifically address our industry’s concerns and also extend the regulation’s effective date to allow us more time to comply.

Sens. Rand Paul (R-KY) and Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) and Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Chuck Schumer (D-NY) might not have too much in common politically, but even these lawmakers who are on opposite sides of the political spectrum united with 28 other lawmakers in a letter that urges FDA to bring more clarity to the chain restaurant menu labeling rule as well as delay its compliance date for up to one year.

If FDA cannot – or will not – undertake this effort comprehensively via its regulatory authority and in a manner that is responsive to the needs of the regulated industry, the food retail industry welcomes legislation.

Like Congress, we’re hopeful that FDA will not let differences of opinion come in the way of progress.