I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3444

To amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to ensure that consumers receive information about the nutritional content of restaurant 

foods. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 5, 2003

Ms. DELAURO (for herself, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. BROWN of Ohio, Ms. ESHOO, 

Mr. EMANUEL, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mrs. JONES of Ohio, and 

Mr. OWENS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL

To amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to 

ensure that consumers receive information about the nutritional content of restaurant foods.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; REFERENCES. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Menu Education and Labeling Act’’. 

6 (b) REFERENCES.—Whenever in this Act an amend7 ment or repeal is expressed in terms of an amendment 

8 to, or repeal of, a section or other provision, the reference 
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1 shall be considered to be made to a section or other provi2 sion of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. 

3 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

4 The Congress finds as follows: 

5 (1) Research continues to reveal the strong link 

6 between diet and health, and that diet-related dis7 eases start early in life. 

8 (2) Increased caloric intake is a key factor con9 tributing to the alarming increase in obesity in the 

10 United States. According to the Centers for Disease 

11 Control and Prevention, two-thirds of American 

12 adults are overweight or obese, and the rates of obe13 sity have doubled in children and tripled in teens 

14 since 1980. Obesity increases the risk of diabetes, 

15 heart disease, stroke, and other health problems. 

16 Each year obesity costs families, businesses, and 

17 governments $117 billion. 

18 (3) Excess saturated fat intake is a major risk 

19 factor for heart disease, which is the leading cause 

20 of death in the United States. While it is often 

21 thought to primarily affect men and older people, 

22 cardiovascular disease is the leading killer of women 

23 and kills 61,000 people between the ages of 45 and 

24 64 each year. Heart disease is also a leading cause 

25 of disability among working adults and its impact on 
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1 the U.S. economy is significant, estimated in 2001 

2 to total $298 billion in health care expenditures and 

3 lost productivity. 

4 (4) Increased sodium intake is associated with 

5 increased risk of high blood pressure, or hyper6 tension, a condition that can lead to cardiovascular 

7 disease, especially stroke. The proportion of Ameri8 cans with high blood pressure is 45 percent at age 

9 50, 60 percent at age 60, and over 70 percent at age 

10 70. 

11 (5) Over the past two decades, there has been 

12 a significant increase in the number of meals pre13 pared and/or eaten outside the home, with an esti14 mated one-third of calories and almost half (46 per15 cent) of total food dollars being spent on food pur16 chased from and/or eaten at restaurants and other 

17 food-service establishments. 

18 (6) While nutrition labeling is currently re19 quired on most processed foods, such information is 

20 required only for restaurant foods for which nutrient 

21 content or health claims are made. 

22 (7) Three-quarters of American adults report 

23 using food labels on packaged foods, which are re24 quired by the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act 

25 of 1990. Using food labels is associated with eating 
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1 more healthful diets, and approximately half (48 

2 percent) of people report that the nutrition informa3 tion on food labels has caused them to change their 

4 minds about buying a food product. 

5 (8) It is difficult for consumers to limit their in6 take of calories at restaurants, given the limited 

7 availability of nutrition information, as well as the 

8 popular practice by many restaurants of providing 

9 foods in larger-than-standard servings and ‘‘super10 sized’’ portions. Studies show that people eat greater 

11 quantities of food when they are served more. 

12 SEC. 3. NUTRITION LABELING OF RESTAURANT FOODS. 

13 (a) NUTRITION LABELING FOR FOODS EATEN IN

14 RESTAURANTS AND SIMILAR RETAIL FOOD ESTABLISH15 MENTS.—Section 403(q)(5)(A)(i) (21 U.S.C. 

16 343(q)(5)(A)(i)) is amended by adding at the end the fol17 lowing: ‘‘except that food, beverages, and meals served in 

18 restaurants and similar retail food establishments that are 

19 part of a chain with 20 or more outlets doing business 

20 under the same trade name, regardless of the type of own21 ership of the restaurant locations, shall list, adjacent to 

22 each food item listed, on menus, menu boards, and other 

23 signs, the total number of calories, grams of saturated 

24 plus trans fat, and milligrams of sodium per menu item, 

25 as offered for sale, in a clear and conspicuous manner,’’. 
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1 (b) NUTRITION LABELING FOR FOODS PREPARED IN

2 RESTAURANTS AND SIMILAR RETAIL FOOD ESTABLISH3 MENTS BUT NOT FOR IMMEDIATE CONSUMPTION.—Sec4 tion 403(q)(5)(A)(ii) (21 U.S.C. 343(q)(5)(A)(ii)) is 

5 amended by adding at the end the following: ‘‘except that 

6 such food, beverages, and meals when it is processed and 

7 prepared primarily in a retail establishment that is part 

8 of a chain with 20 or more outlets doing business under 

9 the same trade name, regardless of the type of ownership 

10 of the restaurant locations, shall list, adjacent to each food 

11 item listed, on menus, menu boards, and other signs, the 

12 total number of calories, grams of saturated plus trans 

13 fat, and milligrams of sodium per menu item, as offered 

14 for sale, in a clear and conspicuous manner,’’. 

15 (c) VENDING MACHINES; RESTAURANT MENU

16 BOARDS.—Section 403(q)(5)(A) (21 U.S.C. 343(q)(5)(A)) 

17 is amended by adding after and below subclause (v) the 

18 following: 

19 ‘‘For purposes of the exceptions described in subclauses 

20 (i) and (ii), nutrition labeling may be limited to the total 

21 number of calories for foods, beverages and meals offered 

22 for sale in vending machines and posted in restaurants 

23 on menu boards.’’. 

24 (d) REGULATIONS.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and 

2 Human Services shall issue proposed regulations to 

3 implement the amendments made by this section 

4 within 12 months after the date of the enactment of 

5 this Act. Such regulations shall require the required 

6 information to be conveyed to the public in a man7 ner that enables the public to understand its relative 

8 significance in the context of a total daily diet. Not 

9 later than 24 months after the date of the enact10 ment of this Act, the Secretary shall issue final reg11 ulations to implement the requirements of such sub12 section. 

13 (2) FAILURE TO PROMULGATE FINAL REGULA14 TIONS BY REQUIRED DATE.—If the Secretary of 

15 Health and Human Services does not promulgate 

16 final regulations under paragraph (1) upon the expi17 ration of 24 months after the date of the enactment 

18 of this Act, the proposed regulations issued in ac19 cordance with paragraph (1) shall be considered as 

20 the final regulations upon the expiration of such 24 

21 months. There shall be promptly published in the 

22 Federal Register notice of the new status of the pro23 posed regulations. 
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1 SEC. 4. VOLUNTARY PROVISION OF NUTRITION INFORMA2 TION; STATE REGULATION OF NUTRITION IN3 FORMATION FOR RESTAURANT FOOD. 

4 (a) RETAIL FOOD ESTABLISHMENTS.—Nothing in 

5 this Act precludes restaurants and similar retail food es6 tablishments from providing additional nutrition informa7 tion, voluntarily, provided that such information complies 

8 with the nutrition labeling requirements contained in sec9 tion 403(q)(1) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic 

10 Act. 

11 (b) STATE OR LOCAL REQUIREMENTS.—Nothing in 

12 this Act precludes any State or political subdivision of a 

13 State from requiring that restaurants and similar food es14 tablishments provide additional nutrition information be15 yond the requirements of this Act.

Æ