Common Sense Menu Labeling Passes Subcommittee

 “We are not here today to debate whether or not restaurants should be listing caloric information. We are here today to debate if this specific, 400-page rule is workable. And it’s not.”

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Washington, D.C. – Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (WA-05)’s legislation, H.R. 2107, the Common Sense Nutrition Disclosure Act, passed the Energy and Commerce Committee Health Subcommittee today on a voice vote. It now moves on to the full committee.

“It is impossible for certain types of food vendors to comply with the FDA’s new rules,” McMorris Rodgers said. These recently finalized menu labeling regulations are more than 400 pages long and, according to estimates, could cost American businesses more than $1 billion to comply and 500,000 hours of paperwork.

The bipartisan legislation clarifies the intent of the regulations and uses technological innovations to provide flexibility in the way nutritional information is displayed.

During Subcommittee markup yesterday, McMorris Rodgers offered opening remarks on the importance of H.R. 2107. Below are highlights from her statement:

We are not here today to debate whether or not restaurants should be listing caloric information. We are here today to debate if this specific, 400-page rule is workable. And it’s not.

Like many other regulations, good intentions don’t always add up to practical policy. This regulation tries a cookie cutter approach—treating grocers, convenience stores, and pizzerias, with endless combination possibilities, the same way as restaurants with constant, simpler menu items.

Requiring pizza franchisees to post in their stores every potential topping combination—more than 34 million possible outcomes—when more than 90% of their orders take place over the phone or internet, just doesn’t make sense.

That is why I introduced the bill we are marking up today. This commonsense legislation provides access to caloric information to consumers in a practical and flexible manner by clarifying, not significantly altering this complicated regulation.

Click here to view her remarks in their entirety. And click here for further background information on H.R. 2107.