Calorie-Counting Rule to Leave Out Movie Theaters

[Guest guest]

Movie theaters don’t hesitate to wag a stern finger at their patrons: *Shhh!

* Turn off your cellphone. Don’t talk during the movie.

But don’t ask them to tell you how many calories are in that jumbo tub of

popcorn.

The federal government on Friday released proposed rules requiring chain

restaurants and other businesses that serve food to post calorie counts on

menus and menu boards. But after objections from theater chains, the rules

give a pass to those box-office snacks — even though a large popcorn and

soda can contain as many calories as a typical person needs in a day.

The new disclosure rules also exempt alcoholic beverages served in

restaurants, including beer, wine and high-calorie mixed drinks like

margaritas and daiquiris.

The Food and Drug Administration said it would accept consumer and industry

feedback on the rules before finishing them, hopefully by the end of this

year. They are expected to go into effect some time next year, said

R. , deputy commissioner for foods at the F.D.A.

“This is a really important and positive step in providing consumers

information that they can use to choose healthy diets and fight

obesity<http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/symptoms/morbid-obesity/overview\

..html?inline=nyt-classifier>,”

Mr. said.

The health care overhaul law passed last year included a provision that

required chain restaurants and similar establishments that served food at 20

or more locations to display calorie counts for menu items.

The proposed new rules, which would spell out how the law would be applied,

would take the place of a grab bag of menu-labeling laws that already exist

around the country, including in New York City and California. The

restaurant industry supported a federal labeling rule so that it would not

have to comply with a range of different regulations.

A preliminary F.D.A. document on the rules released last summer would have

included movie theaters.

But Mr. said officials decided to write the rules so that they would

apply only to establishments whose primary purpose was to sell food or where

at least half the floor space was dedicated to food sales.

“The thinking has absolutely evolved based on comments we’ve gotten from a

number of quarters,” Mr. said. “This is a different drawing of the

circle of what is covered by this law.”

Under the change, the law also would not apply to bowling alleys, carnivals,

airplanes and other establishments where the primary purpose was not the

sale of food.

But it would cover convenience stores and supermarkets that offer

ready-to-eat items like hot dogs, deli sandwiches or rotisserie chicken, as

long as they were part of a chain of sufficient size. In such establishments

and in restaurants, each item on a salad bar would have to be labeled to

show how many calories were in a serving.

Mr. said the rules would not cover alcohol sold in restaurants

because the F.D.A. did not have jurisdiction to regulate alcohol.

In a separate proceeding, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau is

considering whether to require nutritional information on the labels of

alcoholic beverages.

Margo G. Wootan, director of nutrition policy of the Center for Science in

the Public

Interest<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/c/cen\

ter_for_science_in_the_public_interest/index.html?inline=nyt-org>,

said leaving out movie theaters from the new rules was a mistake.

“It doesn’t matter whether you happen to be watching a movie while you’re

eating,” Ms. Wootan said. “Those calories still count.”

The center, an advocacy group, has issued reports showing that at some

theaters, a large tub of popcorn with butter topping can contain nearly

1,500 calories. A large soda can contain 500 calories. Federal dietary

guidelines say that the average person needs about 2,000 calories a day.

However, Ms. Wootan said that over all, calorie labeling on menus would help

people make healthier choices when they go out to eat, and she was pleased

to see that the F.D.A. was moving relatively quickly to put the rules in

place.

The F.D.A. also issued proposed rules for calorie labeling on vending

machines, which was also required by the health care law. Under the rules,

vending machine operators with 20 or more machines would have to post the

calorie content of items they sell.

The National Association of Theater Owners, a trade group, had called for

movie theaters to be exempt from the menu labeling law. On its Web site, the

group said that movies were “escapist entertainment” and that moviegoers did

not go there with the intent of eating a meal. A representative of the group

could not be reached on Friday.

The federal rules would take the place of local or state laws for chain

restaurants and other establishments covered by the federal regulations. But

local governments would be free to create laws for establishments that were

left outside the federal rules. New York City’s labeling law already

requires movie theater chains to post calorie information. It also requires

calorie labeling for alcoholic beverages listed on menus at restaurant

chains.

LINK<http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/02/business/02menu.html?_r=1 & nl=todaysheadli\

nes & emc=tha25>

--

Ortiz, MS, RD

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