A bill intended to clarify and alter a set of long-delayed Obamacare menu labeling rules passed the House Tuesday, as restaurant owners continue to prepare for a May 7 compliance deadline.
Titled the “Common Sense Nutrition Disclosure Act,” the legislation would address concerns raised by some members of the food industry who have opposed aspects of the Affordable Care Act’s nutrition guidelines since the law was first passed.
It passed the chamber on a vote of 266-157. Over 30 Democrats voted for the bill.
Under current law, chain restaurants, convenience stores, movie theaters, and supermarkets with at least 20 locations will have to add important nutrition information to their in-store menu boards to comply with the mandate. Food and Drug Administration officials indicated in November that after years of delays, the rules will finally take effect on May 7. The guidelines would require chains to provide, among other things, a calorie count next to every listed food item.
Proponents say the menu labeling requirements would help inform consumers when they order food, improving public health in the process. But restaurants such as pizza chains and sandwich shops argue nutrition information estimates can vary widely for their products depending on which toppings customers choose to add to a given meal, making the rules more burdensome to adhere to.
Pizza stores have had an especially loud voice in the conversation. They say that because many pizza chains receive a majority of their orders from the internet or over the phone for delivery, rather than in the physical store, they should be able to provide the mandated nutrition information on their websites instead of spending money on new or updated menu boards to install in stores.
The House-passed bill, introduced by House Republican Conference Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, would give chains that flexibility. McMorris Rodgers said in a July committee meeting that the bill “would permit restaurants, grocers, convenience stores to provide nutrition information in a way consistent with how they operate and how customers actually place orders – including by phone, online, or through mobile apps.”
Her bill amassed 86 cosponsors, including a handful of moderate Democrats.
Opponents contend the bill would weaken the original law’s ability to provide consumers with nutrition facts. A February letter from the American Public Health Association asserted the original rule was a satisfactory compromise that should not be altered.
“This bill is completely unnecessary,” said Illinois Democrat Jan Schakowsky, adding that McMorris Rodgers’s measure “would deny consumers critical information about the food that they eat.”
She argued the flexibility the bill provides to restaurant owners amounts to “another handout to businesses” and it would give the food industry the ability to mislead customers. Republicans disputed the characterization, saying the bill would not scrap the menu labeling requirements, but would allow restaurants to make the information available on other platforms instead.
An identical bill passed the House in February of 2016, with a tally of 266-144. 33 Democrats joined with 233 Republicans to approve the measure at the time, but it never made its way out of the Senate. Whether or not the Senate will take up the bill this time around remains to be seen, a vote there has not been scheduled.
