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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

McMorris Rodgers bill on calorie labeling passes House of Representatives

A bill from Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers that she says will give small food service businesses more flexibility in complying with federal calorie reporting requirements passed the House of Representatives on Friday.

McMorris Rodgers said the regulations, written by the Food and Drug Administration as part of the Affordable Care Act, would create an unnecessary burden on franchise owners of chain restaurants, grocery and convenience stores.

“It’s a 400-page menu labeling regulation,” McMorris Rodgers said. “It’s one of the most expensive regulations to come out of this administration.”

The FDA has been developing the rules for menu labeling since 2010, arriving at a draft form of regulations in 2014 that were supposed to take effect in December. McMorris Rodgers and other lawmakers successfully pushed to delay implementation until Dec. 1 this year, and her bill requiring revisions that offer more options for reporting calorie totals as well as protecting businesses from criminal or civil penalties passed the House of Representatives 266-144, with 33 Democrats joining Republicans in favor.

Rep. Raul Labrador of Idaho also voted in favor of the legislation.

President Barack Obama’s staff issued a statement opposing the bill, saying it will delay an already lengthy process to put in place a standard system of reporting calories at food service businesses and that it would “reduce consumers’ access to nutrition information and likely create consumer confusion by introducing a great deal of variability into how calories are declared.”

McMorris Rodgers said her bill was introduced to meet the goal of providing calorie information without bankrupting businesses trying to comply with the federal regualtions.

“This isn’t about arguing the merits of providing calorie information. It’s really about providing flexibility,” McMorris Rodgers said.

The FDA estimates that rewriting the regulations will cost $9 million during the next six years. But McMorris Rodgers said the potential costs to businesses to comply with the existing regualtions could reach $1 billion, citing an oft-mentioned figure by the Food Marketing Insitute, a trade association representing various food service retailers.

McMorris Rodgers visited a Domino’s franchise in Spokane Valley in November to push for passage of the bill. Pizza companies have lobbied against the regulations, saying they would place an unnecessary burden on a business that offers wide variance on their menus. They have also given significant amounts of money to politicians, including McMorris Rodgers’ campaign.

But the congresswoman stressed Friday that the bill benefits more than just pizza companies, including grocery chains like Yoke’s and Rosauers as well as delis and convenience stores. She was optimistic the vote in the House would influence the Senate to vote for the regulation, and despite Obama’s opposition, she believed it could become law before the FDA regulations are set to take effect at the end of this year.

“He issued a statement, and it didn’t include a veto threat,” McMorris Rodgers said.