Finally! On Friday, April 1, the FDA announced (if a week late) its proposed rules for calorie labeling in restaurants and vending machines. The restaurant rules apply to restaurants and fast-food establishments, bakeries, groceries, convenience stores, and coffee shops that are part of chains with more than 20 locations nationwide. For vending machines, the number 20 also applies.
One kind of odd and frustrating aspect of this proposal is that the rules do not apply to “movie theaters, airplanes, bowling alleys, and other establishments whose primary purpose is not to sell food”. Um, yeah—ridiculous. Where in the United States can you not buy food these days? The post office, perhaps? I’m having a legitimately hard time thinking of places!
For more information on these proposed rules and how you can submit a comment to the FDA, visit them online so you can tell them what you think of these proposed rules.
Seems a bit absurd. I get that consumers should be more informed with clear information about what they are eating, but if you break it down to its simplest terms…eating fast food or from a vending machines doesn’t offer much nutritional value (do we really need labels to tell us that?). Everything requiring labels these days is processed and packaged up for convenience…get back to fruits, veggies, whole grains, nutrient dense real food and suddenly all of this labeling/calorie counting isn’t so important. That’s just my opinion, people have gone crazy with all of this calorie counting while their bodies are nutritionally starved…but they are getting plenty of empty calories.
I think you’re definitely on to something there! I know my brain says things like, “Um, why have 8 ounces of an apple-flavored drink or a handful of apple-flavored candy when you can have a crisp, beautiful apple?” But hey, consider the source…