Today NACS will submit comments to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on its Proposed Rule requiring chain restaurants and "similar retail food establishment" with 20 or more locations to disclose nutrient content information for most items appearing on menus and menu boards. NACS has been actively engaged on this issue since the provision became law as part of the health-care reform legislation enacted in 2010.
Our comments will state that convenience stores should not be covered by the menu-labeling regulation. The Proposed Rule demonstrates a nominal understanding of how convenience stores sell food to customers.
The comments will also explain how the Proposed Rule can be improved, should it ultimately cover convenience stores. More than anything else, enhanced clarity is imperative if the FDA hopes to achieve its objectives.
Once submitted, our comments will be available on the FDA's website and we'll provide a follow-up in a NACS Daily story this week.
As the government seeks to find revenue to fund this year€™s Highway Bill, it's looking once again at commercializing rest stops. NACS opposes the commercialization of interstate rest stops due to the fact that it dramatically decreases sales at convenience stores off interstate exits. In fact, Virginia Tech released a study this year predicting a 46% decrease in Interstate-serving gas stations sales in each county, a 44% decrease in sales at interstate-serving restaurants, and a 35% decrease in truck service sales at interstate-serving truck service businesses from the commercialization of rest stops. Please visit the NACS grassroots website to write you representatives. You can see the devastating effects it will have on your business here. Every email and phone call counts.