H.R. 3692, the monstrous health-care-reform bill that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) unleashed on October 30, comprises 1,990 pages of dense, nearly impenetrable prose. This legislation is precisely ten sheets shy of four reams of paper. Just ten pages after completing its third full ream, this bill reveals on page 1,510 yet another reason to reject Obamacare: an unfunded federal mandate for nutrition labeling at chain restaurants and even on vending machines.
In language that would stir only a House committee chairman’s heart, this bill’s Section 2572 begins: “TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS. — Section 403(q)(5)(A) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 343(q)(5)(A)) is amended — (1) in subclause (i), by inserting ‘Except as provided in clause (H)(ii)(III),’ after ‘(i)’ ; and (2) in subclause (ii), by inserting ‘except as provided in clause (H)(ii)(III),’ after ‘(ii).’”
Any American still conscious after that passage would discover that H.R. 3692 requires food chains with 20 or more outlets to display “in a clear and conspicuous manner . . . a nutrient content disclosure statement.” It must include caloric information on each standard food item beside its spot on the menu. Diners also are entitled to “a succinct statement concerning suggested daily caloric intake, as specified by the [Health] Secretary by regulation and posted prominently.”
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This information must appear on “a drive-through menu board” and even “in the case of food sold at a salad bar, buffet line, cafeteria line, or similar self-service facility.”
This federal legislation covers “standard menu items that come in different flavors, varieties, or combinations, but which are listed as a single menu item, such as soft drinks, ice cream, pizza, doughnuts, or children’s combination meals through means determined by the Secretary, including ranges, averages, or other methods.”
These rules also would cover operators of 20 or more vending machines. Their nutritional data must appear “in close proximity to each article of food or the selection button.”
This molecular micromanagement is costly and irksome. Stupider still, it likely will fail.
To great fanfare last year, Michael Bloomberg — New York City’s just-reelected mayor — inflicted similar food labels on local restaurant chains. So far, Bloomberg’s initiative quietly has backfired.
Writing in October 6’s Health Affairs, New York University and Yale researchers describe their interviews with patrons at Burger King, KFC, McDonald’s, and Wendy’s locations in Gotham — both before and after Bloomberg’s labeling law, and in Newark, N.J., which lacks such strictures.
Only 27.7 percent of New Yorkers who saw nutrition information said it affected their eating decisions. Average New York patrons ingested 825 calories per meal before the law and 846 afterward. Newark’s typical consumption rose from 823 to 826 calories.
