Tell Congress: Don't Mess with Menu Labeling!

Moms Say: Don't Mess with Menu Labeling!

Menu labeling is once again under attack. It's urgent we speak out, as the U.S. Senate is considering moves that would severely undermine menu labeling in the coming days.

Menu labeling regulations cover all restaurants, convenience stores, supermarkets, movie theaters and similar establishments with over 20 locations, and require listing nutritional information including calories, fat, sugar and sodium. This is good news right? Families eat out almost twice as often as they did in the 1970s, and kids consume about 1/4 of their daily calories at fast-food and other restaurants.

The reality is that the nation’s top 50 restaurant chains already provide calorie information (either online or in the restaurant), in addition to many of the top supermarket and convenience store chains. So labeling is effectively already in place.

And menu labeling works!

Studies show that providing nutrition information at restaurants can help people make lower calorie choices, and encourage restaurants to introduce lower-calorie items or change recipes to cut calories on current items.
In New York City, which has already implemented menu labeling, 82% of consumers reported that it has had an impact on what they've ordered.

Over 80 percent of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents support menu labeling, according to a new January 2018 poll released by the Center for Science in the Public Interest. Further, over 80 percent think chain supermarkets, convenience stores, and pizza (like Domino’s) should be held to the same standard for labeling calories as chain restaurants.

Join us to speak out -->

To: Member of Congress

I urge you to protect menu labeling, by opposing a rider in the FY2019 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act or related spending bill, and the Common Sense Nutrition Disclosure Act (S. 261).

It has been seven years since the menu labeling law passed and was most recently delayed to May 7, 2018 to accommodate industry. The law requires chain restaurants and similar food establishments to provide consumers with calorie information for standard food and beverage items on menus and menu boards. Studies show that providing nutrition information at restaurants can help people make lower calorie choices, and a national poll found that 80 percent of Americans support calorie labeling at chain supermarkets and restaurants.

The Common Sense Nutrition Disclosure Act would not provide modest flexibility as touted, but rather would further delay menu labeling, allow restaurants and other food establishments to make up their own serving sizes, deny customers calorie information from inside pizza chains and many other restaurants, make it harder for customers to find calorie information in supermarkets and convenience stores, and weaken enforcement and consumer protection. The bill would result in consumer confusion and prevent straightforward, consistent calorie information at many food service establishments. Industry concerns have been and will continue to best be addressed through guidance and technical assistance.

Delaying and weakening menu labeling would hinder the public’s ability to make their own informed choices about how many calories to consume when eating out, which is linked to obesity and diet-related diseases. Obesity and diabetes rates are at record highs, adding significant fiscal and health burdens on the American public, businesses, and federal, state, and local budgets.

I am counting on you to oppose the Common Sense Nutrition Disclosure Act (S. 261/HR. 772), and oppose a rider in the FY2019 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act or related spending bill.

Thank you.

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