Restaurant industry agrees to post nutritional information for diners

Agreement between Board of Health and restaurant industry first of its kind in nation

Restaurant goers in King County will be able to have nutritional information for the food they order at the time of ordering, as part of a successful negotiation with the local restaurant industry. This agreement is the first of its kind in the nation.

In an emergency meeting today, the King County Board of Health unanimously amended its previously adopted menu labeling regulations. The new regulations are the result of two months of successful negotiation with the Washington Restaurant Association.

“King County is the first jurisdiction in the nation to negotiate an agreement with the restaurant industry, while maintaining the principle that nutrition information be accessible and available prior to ordering,” said Board of Health Chair and King County Chair Julia Patterson. “This legislation may well set the standard for future legislation nationwide.”

The compromise is the result of negotiations between Chair Patterson, Dr. David Fleming, Director of Public Health – Seattle and King County, and Washington Restaurant Association Government Relations Director Trent House.

“The overarching goal of our menu labeling regulation is to ensure that consumers have consistent access to nutrition information, without having to ask for it,” said Dr. Fleming. “This is a practical and reasonable compromise that maintains our intent, while giving the restaurant industry greater flexibility to implement it.”

The Board today adopted the following changes to the King County menu labeling regulation enacted last summer:

• Expanding the acceptable methods for nutrition labeling: 

            • For restaurants with menus: In lieu of posting nutrition information directly next to the item on menus, restaurants can choose  to provide information via menu inserts or appendices, supplemental menus, or electronic kiosks available at each table. 

            • For restaurants with menu boards: Calorie information, originally required to be placed directly on menu boards, can be provided via readable signs that are adjacent to the menu board, and/or easily seen while in line en route to the point of ordering.

• Expanding the ability of restaurants to use other means of providing information to customers if they can show that these other methods are as effective at relaying nutritional information as menu labeling;

• Increasing the minimum number of national locations needed to qualify as a chain from 10 to 15, affecting approximately 1,700 restaurants in King County;

• Increasing the minimum number of days a food item must be on the menu to require labeling from 60 to 90 days in a calendar year;

• Eliminating the requirement for trans fat labeling, while retaining the need to disclose calories, saturated fat, carbohydrate and sodium content. Trans fats will be eliminated from all restaurants by February 2009 as mandated by a separate piece of legislation

• Excluding grocery stores and convenience stores from the requirements; and

• Creating a process for testing alternative methods of providing information to see if they are as effective as menu labeling. The standard is that 75 percent of consumers perceive they have access to nutrition information when they order.

In July of 2007, the King County Board of Health adopted legislation that required chain restaurants with more than ten national locations to display calorie, fat, sodium and carbohydrate information on menus by August 1, 2008. The Board recognized the growing obesity, diabetes and heart disease rates and created legislation to help improve consumers’ food choices when going to restaurants, which families are frequenting more than ever before.

When the Washington State Legislature threatened to pre-empt any local board of health from making policy on menu labeling, the Board of Health initiated negotiations with the Washington Restaurant Association to find a compromise.

“I consider our negotiated agreement with the Washington Restaurant Association to be a win for everyone,” said Patterson. “The legislation we passed today will provide consumers with easy access to nutritional information at the time they order their food, while making implementation less onerous on the restaurant industry.”