Politics in Action: H.R. 2017

STATEMENT OF ADMINISTRATION POLICY

H.R. 2017 - The Common Sense Nutrition Disclosure Act of 2015

(Rep. McMorris Rodgers, R-WA, and 99 cosponsors)

The Administration opposes H.R. 2017, the Common Sense Nutrition Disclosure Act of 2015.

The Administration is committed to promoting the public health and ensuring that Americans have access to information to make informed food choices for themselves and their families.  Today, Americans eat and drink about one-third of their calories away from home. 

To provide consumers with calorie and other nutrition information about the foods they eat outside of their homes, the Congress in 2010 required that calorie information be listed on menus and menu boards in certain chain restaurants and similar retail food establishments with 20 or more locations, and on certain vending machines.  In 2014, after extensive shareholder and public participation, the Food and Drug Administration finalized rules implementing the statutory menu labeling and vending machine labeling requirements.

H.R. 2017 would undercut the objective of providing clear, consistent calorie information to consumers. If enacted, it would reduce consumers' access to nutrition information and likely create consumer confusion by introducing a great deal of variability into how calories are declared.  The legislation also would create unnecessary delays in the implementation of menu labeling. 

Source: The Executive Office of the President, Office of Management and Budget