7. The Great Debate LEAN Act (Carper/Murkowski) MEAL Act (Harkin/DeLauro) Applies Too 20 or more (Nationally) 20 or more (Nationally) Information Required on the Menu, Menu Board and Drive Thru Information Available Upon Request Calories Sodium Saturated Fat Trans Fat Federal Preemption YES NO Liability Protections YES NO
Two products: MenuCalc and LabelCalc Subscription based and RD consulting Partnered with the CRA 1.5 years ago to support you, the members In support of the national bill and consumer pressure FoodCALC has now joined the endorsed sweet of products with the NRA 30 years of combined experience from RD’s to database developers, user experience designers and industry gurus
First menu labeling requirement passed in 2006 – in New York City and it was for 15 or more locations operating in within the city
As you can almost half of the US has either an enacted, introduced, defeated or active menu labeling bill The issue with all these bills were the inconsistency of the requirements, deadlines, nutrients to be calculated, methods of analysis
We had to start creating a unified approach to menu labeling, and so this started the great debate between the industry, senators and the health officials with led to two proposed acts: LEAN & MEAL The industry supported the LEAN, while the health officials and senates pushed for MEAL - - you can see the difference with required info
As you can see in the column highlighted in yellow, this is the industry’s new law There is a preemption and protection clause, Calories are a must but the other nutrients that we’ll discuss later are upon request, still need to be calculated tho, just not on the menu or menu board
There are currently 11 state and local laws that have been passed and most have been enacted across the county. They all have different standards, this law will unify all of them. The law was passed on March 23, and the terms and conditions say that the law is to be enacted within a year. Only a skeleton of the actual regulation has been drafted, and it is now in the hands of the FDA to write the actual law and all of its conditions…this may take a while.
There is a voluntary program for restaurants to start complying with this law now to preempt state and local laws in their areas, and there is also a voluntary program for restaurants who do not meet criteria and wish to comply anyways.
There are 1,040 unique businesses that operate 20-99 locations And there are another 450 unique businesses that operate 100+ locations Though combined it’s less than 2% of our industry, the awareness
Ideas for providing this: brochure/pamphlet, supplement menu, binder, kiosk, poster… These are the nutrients found on nutrition facts panels for packaged foods. TRANS FAT will likely be added to this, but is not in the current bill.
Items on display may include pastries or salads in a deli case. Self-service may include buffets, salad bars, cafeterias, and soda fountains. One piece or one scoop should be considered a serving size, so consistency will be important.
This is one of those sections that has yet to be decided by the FDA. Most of the local laws use a minimum to maximum range.
We all know that two dishes are never created exactly the same, there is always going to be an element of human variation, so it is important to let people know that these fats are likely to vary. The FDA still has to draft this section of the law but they have been asked to consider these factors.
Speak to what’s current The discuss Jan 1 2011
Where do nutrition facts come from and what are acceptable methods for getting nutrition facts? The bill states that restaurants must obtain and disclose nutrition facts based on reasonable basis and lists these methods as examples…EXPLAIN Labs vs Database.
You can see all of this at menucalc.com where you can also view video demos and sign up for a free trial account.
You can see this all on the MenuCalc website where you can also view demos, sign up for a free trial, or request a live private demo. We will be sending you a promo code to receive your discount shortly after this presentation.