Restaurant menus have to list calorie counts next to the price of each item, in the same type size, the Food and Drug Administration said Friday as it released guidance on how chains should implement the rule when it starts next year.
The agency hopes to clear up a swarm of questions through the draft guidance on implementing the Obamacare-mandated menu-labeling rule, which affects chains of 20 or more eateries.
The restaurant industry had no clue what was covered and what wasn’t. For instance, do you have to have a calorie count for a daily special?
The guidance is the latest effort by the agency to deal with blowback to its controversial rule.
In July, the agency announced eateries had another year before having to comply with the rule. The delay came after a House spending bill called for the agency to give the chains more time to implement the rules.
The guidance is intended to help deal with various nuances of the rule, which affects chains of 20 or more establishments that do business under the same name. Eateries in grocery stores are also covered.
For example, there were a lot of questions from pizzerias on how they would be affected. Pizzerias wondered about coupons and fliers they often use as primary modes of advertising.
The guidance said that advertising or marketing material is generally not considered a menu or menu board. But pizza coupons, such as $9.99 for a large pepperoni pie, could be considered a menu item since a consumer can use the coupon to order something.
Daily specials or temporary menu items on a menu for less than 60 days are exempt from the menu-labeling requirement.
A standard menu item has to have the calorie count right next to the price of the item, and in about the same font size.
If a restaurant doesn’t comply by next year, the agency could seize its food supplies, sue it or even issue criminal penalties.
Obamacare mandated the rule as a way to combat obesity through showing Americans how many calories are in what they eat.
