Smarter Menu Legislation Passed Committee

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 “This legislation is commonsense and provides access to calorie information in a practical, flexible, and simpler manner by clarifying – not significantly altering – complicated regulations.”

Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (WA-05)’s legislation, H.R. 2017, the Common Sense Nutrition Disclosure Act, passed out of the Energy and Commerce Committee today with a vote of 36 – 12 – 1. It now awaits action on the House floor.

A new 400-page menu labeling rule from the FDA is unworkable for many food vendors—including grocery stores, delis, and pizzerias. McMorris Rodgers’s bipartisan legislation clarifies the intent of the rule and uses technological innovations to provide flexibility in the way nutritional information is displayed.

Prior to today’s vote, McMorris Rodgers spoke to the Committee on the importance of H.R. 2017.

“In their current form, menu labeling regulations are fundamentally impractical and unnecessarily expensive,” said McMorris Rodgers in her remarks. “Compliance with this regulation is estimated to cost American businesses more than $1 billion and 500,000 hours of paperwork. This is time, energy, and financial resources that should be spent on creating jobs and building up the economy – not on paperwork. That’s why, with the input of stakeholders and my colleagues, I introduced H.R. 2017. This legislation is commonsense and provides access to calorie information in a practical, flexible, and simpler manner by clarifying – not significantly altering – complicated regulations.”

Click here to view her remarks in their entirety. And click here for further background information on H.R. 2017.