Bill H.R. 2017 now moves to the Senate for consideration.
On Friday, Feb. 12, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the “Common Sense Nutrition Disclosure Act for 2015,” by a vote of 266-144.
The National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) President and CEO Henry Armour hailed the legislation, noting it represents “another giant step forward in ensuring consumer choice and making it possible for convenience stores and others to comply.”
Nancy Caldarola, general manager of The Food Training Group, called the vote a “big win” for the c-store industry.
The bill H.R. 2017 was introduced by Representatives Cathy McMorris-Rodgers (R-WA) and Loretta Sanchez (D-CA), and the bill is intended to clarify as well as simplify the menu-labeling regulations for foodservice establishments that were put forth by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The national menu labeling law passed as part of the Affordable Care Act as part the Affordable Care Act in March 2010.
“The House of Representatives has spoken: We need a common-sense approach to menu labeling that ensures more nutritional information and choice for consumers, while simplifying compliance for businesses of all sizes seeking to meet consumer needs,” Armour said.
The bill next moves to the Senate for consideration. Caldarola noted that if the bill becomes law, it would remove the expensive burden on small c-store chains of 20-60 stores of needing to conduct a nutritional analysis of their food offerings and install menu boards and other means to display calories and nutritional information.
“Passage would also remind the public and the government that we are retail operators with a broad four wall offer of fill in groceries, automotive supplies and, in many stores, some grab and go food and beverage,” Caldarola said.
Meanwhile, the larger regional chains that are foodservice leaders, would be able to continue with their current nutritional information about products made and served. “Menu boards and other means to display information would be able to be accomplished in a way to better serve the guests of the store,” Caldarola said.
Armour noted he hopes the “Senate will act expeditiously to ensure that healthy and convenient food choices are available to meet rising customer demand without overly burdening small businesses.”
What If It Doesn’t Pass the Senate?
If the bill does not pass in the Senate, chains with 20 or more stores will be affected and will have to conform to the regulations in the Affordable Care Act. But single-store and small chain operators could potentially find the menu-labeling regulations impact even them down the line. “Although the original bill noted that these businesses would be exempt it’s unrealistic to think that this level of exclusion from the disclosure requirements would be allowed to continue,” Caldarola said. “The pressure from special interest groups to have total foodservice confirmation to the new standard would be increasing. Even grocery store chains will find the requirements to analyze and post information about every possible menu offering onerous.”
The cost of compliance would be staggering for c-stores. Caldarola pointed out that current estimates for the cost of recipe/menu analysis are too low, and do not take into consideration the time and management effort required to assemble information, find a service provider, assist with the collection of secondary nutritional data, and so forth.
“The contracted timing will also set up problems for compliance in the stores. Analysis and getting the right merchandising boards is time consuming, and all foodservice could be impacted by scarcity in available suppliers and service contractors,” she said. “The biggest danger is being lumped with a dissimilar group —restaurants that are in the business to serve food and beverages to guests. That’s not most c-stores.”
Transparency Concerns
While the House ruling is good news for the convenience store industry, which campaigned heavily in favor of the bill, not everyone is celebrating the vote. Margo Wootan, director of nutrition policy at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, which has led the charge for restaurant nutrition labeling, said the bill would “result in consumer confusion and prevent disclosure of straightforward, consistent calorie information at many foodservice establishments.”
“C-store operators and managers are not in business to deceive our customers,” argued Caldarola.
Already, c-stores offer nutritional data on all roller grill offerings, ready to heat pizzas, and similar daypart menu products that are served in the majority of locations. “This information is provided by the manufacturers and can be disclosed to guests as needed. Adding a menu board to the store, as required in the original law and to be consistent in appearance with a QSR operation, would not improve upon guest understanding and use of nutritional labeling, plus would be burdensome for the owner/operator. Guests who want to know will ask,” Caldarola said.
“We are not fast food restaurants, and menu boards are not an inherent merchandising feature of our retail establishments,” she added. “Nutritional information is currently found on Websites and in print in chain stores, and team members are trained in their use.”
