Feb 12, 2016

FEBRUARY 12, 2016 – ARLINGTON, VA – Food Marketing Institute (FMI) commended the U.S. House of Representatives today for approving on a bipartisan basis (266-144-1) legislation that offers workable solutions to fix flaws contained in the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) final chain restaurant menu labeling regulations that were expanded in 2015 to apply to grocery stores.

 

FMI President and CEO Leslie G. Sarasin said, “The Common Sense Nutrition Disclosure Act of 2015 (H.R. 2017) is not about being ‘for’ or ‘against’ the inclusion of nutrition information on menus. Instead, the bill injects some common sense into the rule by avoiding a one-size fits all system and allowing supermarkets to provide this important information to their customers in ways that are most accessible and useful to the customers for whom it is intended.”

 

She continued, “FMI has fervently pursued legislation because FDA has not been able to resolve through regulation the supermarket industry’s recorded concerns and needed clarification. With the quickly approaching deadline for compliance, FMI members desperately need this helpful bi-partisan legislative resolution.”

 

Importantly, the bill does not exempt supermarkets or any other retailers from the nutrition information requirement.  Instead, it offers practical suggestions for menu labeling regulations in a grocery store setting along with flexible disclosure options. Provisions of the Common Sense Nutrition Disclosure Act of interest to the supermarket industry include:

 

  • Allowing use of a menu or menu board in a prepared foods area or next to a salad bar instead of requiring individual labeling of every item;
  • Preserving local foods or fresh items that may only be sold at one or two store or restaurant locations;
  • Allowing an establishment to take corrective actions within 90-days prior to federal, state or municipal enforcement and thereby provide some degree of liability protection; and
  • NOT modifying or weakening FDA’s or state officials’ current oversight/enforcement authority.

Sarasin commented, “We appreciate the support of such an impressive and diverse group of Members of Congress – they are true champions of solving problems for the 1,225 businesses and 40,000 stores FMI represents.”

 

For Media:

  • Letter of support signed by 200+ businesses/organizations representing thousands of supermarkets, grocery stores, convenience stores and pizzerias in support of adopting the Common Sense Nutrition Disclosure Act (Link)
  • FMI/Backgrounder on supermarkets’ concerns priorities in the bill (Link)
  • List of Questions/Concerns raised compared to how they were addressed (or not) in FDA’s draft guidance.  Those that are highlighted are ones that we are attempting to address through legislation b/c FDA has told us they will not address them in guidance  (Link)