DeLauro Slams FDA for Bowing to Industry Pressure on Menu Labeling

WASHINGTON, DC (April 27, 2017) — Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-03) today released the following statement regarding news that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is delaying the menu labeling rule, which provides consumers with nutritional information on the foods they purchase. The menu labeling rule, which was enacted as part of the Affordable Care Act, was set to go into effect on May 5, 2017—seven years after the law was enacted.

"The menu labeling rule is critical to the health of the American people and it is outrageous that the Trump Administration is delaying its implementation in the eleventh hour. For close to seven years, members of the restaurant industry have had the opportunity to work with the FDA on the rule, crafting an implementation plan that would work for businesses and consumers. Now, despite years of progress, the FDA is bowing to special interests and abandoning a rule that would give Americans the tools they need to make healthy choices. With rates of obesity and diabetes at crisis levels across the country, the FDA should immediately reverse course and allow the menu labeling rule to move forward. Consumers are asking for this information and shame on the Trump Administration for denying it to them."

DeLauro led the fight for menu labeling legislation for nearly a decade and she authored the language in the Affordable Care Act that created the menu labeling rule. DeLauro is the Senior Democrat on the Appropriations subcommittee responsible for funding the FDA.

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