Final Obamacare Calorie Rule Includes 171-Word Definition of Menu

[Geee]

Free Beacon:

The Food and Drug Administration issued its final guidance for an Obamacare regulation mandating calorie labeling in restaurants, which includes a 171-word definition of “menu,” and will apply to coupons and advertisements.

 

The document, which intends to clarify how food establishments should comply with the regulation, is doing little to ease the concerns of pizza chains that have said it is “impossible to comply” with the rule.

 

The final guidance includes a 96-word definition of “combination meal” and a 163-word definition of “restaurant-type food.” The government also goes into when “Aunt Cora’s French toast breakfast” must have its calories listed and tells restaurants not to use plus or minus signs on their menus because they are too “confusing” to Americans.

 

But drawing the biggest criticism is the government’s definition of menu and strict rules for calorie labeling of toppings.

 

The government considers a menu to be the “primary writing of the covered establishment from which a customer makes an order selection, including, but not limited to, breakfast, lunch and dinner menus; dessert menus; beverage menus, children’s menus, other specialty menus (such as catering), electronic menus, and menus on the Internet.” The full definition is 171 words. Merriam-Webster has a 12-word definition for menu.