Metropolitan King County Council 516 Third Ave., Rm. 1200 Seattle, WA 98104 Phone: 206-296-1000 Toll Free: 800-325-6165 TTY/TDD: 206-296-1024 Fax: 206-296-0198 council@kingcounty.gov
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Oct. 8, 2008 Congress considers national menu labeling law similar to King County’sLEAN Act of 2008 in both U.S House and SenateFederal menu labeling legislation introduced last week in both the House and Senate mirrors groundbreaking regulations adopted by the King County Board of Health last year.
The Labeling Education and Nutrition Act of 2008, dubbed the LEAN Act, would require chain restaurants with more than 20 locations nationally to label their menus and menu boards with calorie information and make other nutritional information available to consumers prior to ordering.
“It’s possible that in the near future, we will have forgotten what it was like to dine in a restaurant without nutritional information, just as we have forgotten what it’s like going to an establishment that allows indoor smoking,” said Metropolitan King Council Chair Julia Patterson, who is also chair of the King County Board of Health. “Having information available in order to make healthy choices will soon be considered a right in King County. It is time that our national elected officials make nutrition information available across the country.”
The LEAN Act is modeled after the King County Board of Health regulation that provides flexibility in where nutritional information must be displayed. Calories can be displayed either on the menu or in a variety of other ways, such as in a menu insert, appendix or supplemental menu, as long as the information is available to consumers before they order. However, the federal proposal only requires calories to be displayed, while King County’s law requires the display of calories, fat, carbohydrates, and sodium. Although the LEAN Act requires national uniformity, it would not pre-empt King County’s local regulation, according to an initial analysis.
“King County’s groundbreaking menu labeling regulation has been a model for other jurisdictions, and now for the entire country,” said Patterson. “I am proud of our successful negotiations with the restaurant industry that led to the development of practical options being considered now for implementation on a national basis.”
King County’s menu labeling regulation will go into effect on January 1, 2009. Other jurisdictions that have passed menu labeling legislation include New York City, the city of San Francisco, Multnomah County, and the State of California.
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