Bill now waits for review by the entire House of Representatives.
The House Energy & Commerce Committee has passed H.R. 772, “The Common Sense Nutrition Disclosure Act” that looked to make menu-labeling requirements more flexible and possible for food providers.
The National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) reported that the bill passed by a bipartisan vote of 39 to 14.
The bill’s sponsors, Reps. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and Tony Cardenas (D-CA), pointed out to the committee that the issue wasn’t IF calorie disclosures should be required, but allowing some flexibility in implementation instead of a one-size-fits all approach.
Two amendments were put forward. The first by the bill’s sponsors, would shorten the required compliance timeline under the bill and would give the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) more flexibility in enforcing the new rule that they would draft under the legislation. It was accepted by a vote.
A second amendment by Rep. Kurt Schrader (R-OR), wanted to remove provisions of the bill that would allow establishments who received greater than 50% of their orders remotely (such as pizza delivery chains) to post the required caloric disclosure remotely, such as on a website. That amendment failed on a bipartisan vote.
The House’s amended bill now awaits consideration by the full House of Representatives.