NACS Breaks Down FDA Menu Labeling Obligations

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — NACS, the Association for Convenience & Fuel Retailing is providing retailers with a summary of the final menu-labeling rule.

The association's breakdown comes one week after the Food and Drug Administration released a draft guidance document that addresses some of the questions raised about its final rule. NACS is also providing a general understanding of convenience retailers' obligations by the December 2016 compliance deadline.

According to NACS, the FDA's menu-labeling rule states that establishments covered by the rule must post calories for standard menu items on menus or menu boards or, for self-service items and foods on display, on signs adjacent to the items. 

They also will be required to provide additional written nutrition information to consumers upon request. Covered establishments must begin complying with the final rule no later than Dec. 1, 2016. 

"It is important to note that many of the menu-labeling rule's requirements are difficult to navigate — particularly as they apply to convenience stores. The rule is designed primarily for chain restaurants, and applying it to convenience stores creates many complexities that the final rule does not adequately address," the association said.

NACS is working with members of Congress to pass legislation, the Common Sense Nutrition Disclosure Act, to allow its members and others to comply with the rule in ways that are more helpful to consumers and more reasonable for businesses of all types to follow.

Menu-labeling compliance obligations and strategy should be developed on a company-by-company, and often store-by-store basis, the association added.