A Federal Menu Law Compromise that Actually Works?

Is it really possible? Can the restaurant industry and health activists actually agree on something?

Lawmakers put together a new version of a bill to create uniform national requirements for menu labeling — and the bill has the support of everyone from the National Council of Chain Restaurants and the National Restaurant Association on one side, and the Center for Science in the Public Interest and the Coalition for Responsible Nutrition Information on the other.

Obviously, the two sides have different reasons for liking the bill. “Calories on menus will allow Americans to exercise responsibility for what they eat and what they order for their children,” said the nutrition policy director at CSPI, on the public health side.

Most restaurants, on the other hand, would no doubt prefer not to have to figure out and post calorie information for every single menu item they carry, but they’re supporting the bill because it’s better than waiting for every state and city to develop its own law, which seems to be the trend.

“Currently, there is a growing patchwork of inconsistent state and local laws governing menu labeling in restaurants that can be confusing for our customers and operators,” said Craig Prusher, vice president of government relations, Burger King Corp.

And this compromise gives restaurants a bit of a break. Restaurants with 20 or more locations would have to include calorie information on menus — including drive through boards — but info on trans fats, sodium, sugars, etc. would only have to be available on request. Restaurants would also be off the hook for “daily specials, custom orders and test market items on the menu for less than 90 days.”

The final bill borrowed pieces from both the Menu Education and Labeling (MEAL) Act, supported by public health advocates, and the Labeling Education and Nutrition (LEAN) Act, supported by industry. MEAL would have required menus to list calories, sodium, fats and carbs — a rather big burden for restaurants, given limited menu space — while LEAN was not strong enough to satisfy those on the public health side.

But this latest version seems to please everyone, which is pretty impressive. It’s almost enough to replace my usual cynicism with a hopeful, warm and fuzzy take on the world — if only for a few minutes.

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