The New York Times reports that New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has reintroduced a regulation that would “force chain restaurants to display calorie information on their menus or menu boards, after a federal judge struck down a similar measure last month … The regulation would require the calorie counts to be posted as prominently as the price of each menu item. For many fast food outlets, that means the information would be added to the big signs behind the cash registers that list food items and prices.”
According to the story, the last version of the law was struck down because it only applied to those restaurants that already provided some nutritional information, which the city said it did because it did not want to make the rules too onerous. The judge in the case, however, said that this provision violated federal law … though he essentially invited the city to redraft the regulations in such a way that they would meet federal statutes.
Which essentially is what the city has done. The Times writes that “the new regulation would apply to about 10 percent of the city’s 23,000 restaurants,” a group that serves approximately one third of all the food in New York City eaten outside the home.
A public hearing is scheduled for late November, after which the city’s Board of Health is expected to adopt the regulations.
According to the story, the last version of the law was struck down because it only applied to those restaurants that already provided some nutritional information, which the city said it did because it did not want to make the rules too onerous. The judge in the case, however, said that this provision violated federal law … though he essentially invited the city to redraft the regulations in such a way that they would meet federal statutes.
Which essentially is what the city has done. The Times writes that “the new regulation would apply to about 10 percent of the city’s 23,000 restaurants,” a group that serves approximately one third of all the food in New York City eaten outside the home.
A public hearing is scheduled for late November, after which the city’s Board of Health is expected to adopt the regulations.
- KC's View:
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After which, I presume, there will be some sort of legal challenge.
I’m not nuts about government turning into a big nanny, but I’m not sue that this is the case here. This is about transparency and truth in advertising…and companies that want to sell enormous 900-calorie burgers ought to be compelled to put that information in boldface.
