Battlelines are being drawn on the fast food menu board laws. Attempts by industry to federalize disclosure laws are intended to weaken those laws and permit calorie/nutrition information to be hidden away from consumer access, in places like in menu inserts and separate handouts.
Nashville could be the first city in the South to require restaurants to post calories on menus. A public hearing is set for November 6th. If adopted, the calorie count requirement would begin Janunary 31, 2009 with a 90-day grace period. The proposed regulations would apply only to restaurants with 10 or more outlets nationwide. Calories would be posted on the menu or on a menu board, in the same size type as the price. The law would also extend to food tags, such as the calories in a tablespoon of ranch dressing on a salad bar.
The California Center for Public Health Advocacy has put this video up on Youtube showing what happens when customers need to consult a brochure.
We are following this story closely and will keep posting information as it becomes available. See our prior post.
