Posted on June 17, 2008 by Gerald Pugliese
The Food and Drug Administration is on board with New York City’s calories-on-menus law, but The New York State Restaurant Association isn’t too happy about it. More from the
Associated Press:
The Food and Drug Administration believes the city has a right to force chain restaurants to post calorie counts on menu boards, a government lawyer told a federal appeals court last week, but the court did not immediately decide whether it agrees.
The city will begin issuing fines on July 18, but Judge Rosemary Pooler, of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, questioned the wisdom of doing so if she and two other judges rule against the city.
Assistant U.S. Attorney David S. Jones said on Thursday that the FDA did not want to "shackle city and state authorities" from protecting consumers by preventing the enforcement of regulations such as the calorie rule.
The court must decide whether the city acted constitutionally when it required restaurants that are part of chains with at least 15 outlets across the country to post calories on their menu boards.
People do have the right to know exactly what’s in their food—including calories—but, I doubt knowing the calorie-content of a McWhopper matters much.
