Confusion reigns on a controversial rule that would require restaurants and delivery eateries to put calorie counts on menus, with businesses and even lawmakers unclear on how the new rule will affect them.
Senators asked Thursday for the Food and Drug Administration to delay implementation of the rule, which is scheduled for Dec. 1. The agency issued a document Wednesday that gave advice to small businesses affected by the rule.
“There is still considerable confusion about what is in the rule,” said outgoing FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg during a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee hearing.
Case in point was an example proffered by Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., during the hearing.
Under the rule, a restaurant must print the calorie count of every food item on the menu. However, businesses don’t know how this rule applies to more non-traditional eateries, he said.
Take pizza deliveries, where a consumer doesn’t look at a menu but calls up a pizzeria for a quick pie. Moran asked if the pizzeria has to put the calorie count on the box, which can be difficult as the calorie count for a cheese pizza and a pepperoni pizza would be very different.
Hamburg said that she wasn’t aware of that requirement for pizza boxes. Pizzerias do have to put calorie counts on pizza slices but not on whole pie, which are usually what is delivered to consumers.
The rule was mandated by the Affordable Care Act, and intended to provide clear nutritional information. A separate rule affects calorie counts in vending machines.
In addition to restaurants and delivery eateries, the rule affects food at movie theaters, bowling alleys, bookstore cafes and other similar establishments.
The rule doesn’t just apply to foods on a menu at a restaurant. The next time you buy a muffin, bagel, or slice of pizza the calories for that item must be displayed on either the item or a sign next to it, the advice document said.
A daily special offered by an eatery isn’t affected.
“The world we live in no longer revolves around traditional restaurants,” said Hamburg, who leaves at the end of this month.
If a restaurant doesn’t comply, then the FDA could seize their food supplies or bring a civil suit and even criminal penalties.
The rule will only affect chains of 20 or more restaurants and similar establishments.
This story published at 12:52 p.m. and has been updated since then.
