In what is perceived as a step backward in the fight for full consumer awareness, the US House of Representatives recently passed HR 2017, a law which could deny consumers basic caloric information on menu items while allowing food establishment to make up their own serving sizes. Writer Nancy Fink Huehnergarth in her Forbes.com article, the "Common Sense Nutritional Disclosure Act" could weaken the still-unimplemented national menu labeling law passed last 2010.
This sentiment is echoed by the Center for Science in Public Interest (CSPI) in their article covering the bill's passage. Margo G. Wootan, CSPI Director of nutritional policy, states that contrary to its clever name, the new bill has no common sense at all nor is it aimed at providing additional information for the benefit of consumers. Wootan added that if the new bill were to be implemented, it would just cause confusion among consumers and would deny them the basic caloric information necessary to make healthier food choices.
The bill's proponents, known collectively as the "American Pizza Community" and led by Domini Pizza, have been lobbying for it citing that the bill would provide a modest flexibility in the industry. According to Huehnergarth, the same group is also responsible for the almost six years delay in implementing the federal menu labeling law passed on 2010 which requires all establishments to provide nutritional guides next to their menu items.
According to CSPI, more than 100 nutrition and health organization and researchers oppose the bill. Even the White House has released a statement expressing its concern which says, "H.R. 2017 would undercut the objective of providing clear, consistent calorie information to consumers."
To others, the bill is an obvious ploy for the Domino-led group to escape the nutritional-labeling law. A ThriveMarket.com article cites that some companies fear that providing nutritional information in the menu could affect the sales of the more popular but less healthy menu items.
For now, Wootan is placing her faith in the Senate to uphold the national menu labeling. Ultimately, Wootan is confident that the Senate would listen to the eight out of 10 Americans over Domino Pizza's whining.
