U.S. introducing menu label law

The Trump administration is moving ahead with Obama-era requirements to post calorie counts in restaurants, supermarkets, convenience stores and pizza delivery chains nationwide next year.

Despite years of opposition by some food sellers, the Food and Drug Administration is offering only minor compromises to industry complaints about the difficulties of displaying calories at takeout chains, self-service buffets and other non-restaurant food locations.

The FDA posted a preliminary guidance online Tuesday to help businesses comply with the law.

Trump appointees have delayed or upended regulations passed by the Obama administration including rules for water pollution, fuel emissions and policing for-profit universities. But the menu labelling rules, championed by former first lady Michelle Obama, appear on track to take effect next May after years of delays.

Behind the law is the idea that people may think twice about their daily doughnut at the gas station if they see how many hundreds of calories it contains.

“When you arm consumers with reliable information, they are going to make better decisions, smarter and more informed decisions about their diet,” FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said in an interview with The Associated Press. “Providing this information is more important now than ever because more people are eating their meals away from the home.”

In a key move, the FDA rejected requests from pizza chains, including Domino’s Pizza, which wanted to post calorie information on their websites instead of each store location.