USA Today sought out FMI to provide an Op-Ed of the Food and Drug Administration’s
recent final regulation on menu labeling. Below is the full article that ran in USA Today on Dec. 2, 2014, both in print and online.
Don't include grocery stores: Opposing view
The Food and Drug Administration issued a final regulation last week that will bring consistency and reliability to the nutritional information offered at chain restaurants. But it included grocery stores, ruling that their recipes are as formulaic as the menu boards at fast-food restaurants.
On the contrary, food retailers are in the business of customization, and the nation's grocery stores have been representing their shoppers' health interests for decades through personal relationships.
Supermarkets provide nutritional information on 95% of what's in their stores. Some 85% of supermarkets offer dietitians advising customers or corporate chefs about ways to address particular dietary needs, and these dietitians partner with pharmacists to ensure that shoppers are educated on overall wellness goals.
Food retailers have also responded to major health trends, such as the growing need for gluten-free products, and have implemented voluntary, front-of-package labeling programs.
Arguably, grocery stores' commitments extend well beyond nutrition education to promoting overall health. They are currently analyzing the Food Safety Modernization Act — a law our industry supported to make the most sweeping changes to our nation's food safety system in nearly 70 years. Restaurants are currently excluded from this law.
Beyond what is required by the law, the industry developed its own produce safety guide and a listeria prevention guide for supermarket delis. Our organization's board of directors also adopted a policy encouraging each store to have a certified food handler.
It remains unclear how the labeling regulation will be enforced at grocery stores. If a local, state or federal official finds missing or erroneous information at a salad bar, for instance, the grocer could be criminally charged.
Supermarkets provide their customers with what they want and need. So our issue with the rule has never been about limiting information. Instead, it is that the rule applies a formula that may fit chain restaurants but was not designed for the complexities of supermarkets.
Leslie G. Sarasin is the president and CEO of the Food Marketing Institute, which represents the nation's food retailers and wholesalers.
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