DeLauro Statement on Final Menu Labeling Guidance

WASHINGTON, DC (April 29, 2016) — Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-03) today praised the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for finalizing their long awaited guidance to industry on menu labeling. The FDA will now begin enforcing the menu labeling final rule in early May 2017 and ensure that consumers have adequate nutritional information when eating outside of the home.

"After six years of delays due to special interests, the long-awaited menu labeling guidance has been finalized by the FDA. Consumers have the right to know the nutritional content of their food and it is absolutely imperative that we give Americans the tools they need to make healthy choices when dining out at restaurants," said Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro. "At a time when Americans are eating nearly half of their meals and snacks outside the home, consumers are asking for this information and will now finally have it. This guidance includes feedback from a number of parties and I am confident that it will be effective in providing informed nutritional decisions."

Earlier this year, DeLauro spoke out against the Common Sense Nutrition Disclosure Act of 2015, which would have undermined the menu labeling rule and decreased consumer protection. DeLauro cited a fact that, today, more than one-third of children and adolescents are overweight or obese, and that children eat almost twice as many calories at a restaurant than they do at home.

DeLauro is the Ranking Member on the subcommittee responsible for funding the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. She also included the language that created menu labeling in the Affordable Care Act of 2010.

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