Movie Theaters Fight for Exemption to Food-Labeling Rule

With buttered popcorn tallying as many calories as almost three Big Macs, movie chains fear menu labeling would cut into their food profit drivers.

March 15, 2011

WASHINGTON - We want out, say movie theater chains, who oppose being included in the menu labeling provision in the health-care law, the Daily Herald reports.

Regulators will propose rules by March 23, and they have the authority to include concession stands in the law that would require chain restaurants with at least 20 U.S. locations to post calorie counts. That suits health advocates just fine, who argue the snacks at theaters should be no exception to a law that seeks to educate consumers.

"It's easy enough to blow your whole diet for a week from one snack at the movie theater," said Margo Wootan, the director of nutrition policy at the Center for Science in the Public Interest in Washington. "Just because you happen to be watching a movie while you're eating doesn't mean you aren't eating out."

Movie theaters are lobbying the Food and Drug Administration to avoid applying the law to them, maintaining that Congress didn??t specifically include them while deliberating the measure.

"In the basic history of the bill, there is no real intent to include movie theaters that we could discern," said Patrick Corcoran, a spokesperson for the National Association of Theatre Owners, arguing that companies that derive less than 35 percent of gross revenue from food sales should be exempt from the law.

However, Representative Rosa DeLauro, a Connecticut lawmaker who sponsored a food-labeling bill in the House, said movie theaters were indeed targeted by the mandate. The requirement "is meant to let people know what it is that they're consuming," she said.

Only prepared food such as popcorn and hot dogs sold at concession stands would be subject to the labeling requirements, as pre-packaged food already includes nutrition data.

The National Restaurant Association and the National Council of Chain Restaurants (a division of the National Retail Federation) say movie theaters should adhere to the same rules as restaurants. "A lot of these places are, in our opinion, our competitors," said Scott Vinson, vice president of the chain restaurants group.

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