In a letter to lawmakers March 21, the National Restaurant Association and several restaurant companies said that H.R. 1249 would create an unlevel playing field between restaurants and other entities that serve restaurant food, such as chain grocery and convenience stores, by exempting those stores from providing uniform nutrition information to customers.

“This legislation would broadly exempt chain grocery, convenience stores and other entities that sell restaurant food from providing uniform nutrition information to customers despite that fact that each day thousands of customers purchase meals at these establishments,” says Scott DeFife, Executive Vice President, Policy & Government Affairs, National Restaurant Association. “These companies each made strategic decisions to compete directly with their local restaurant community, in this regard, and need to play by the same rules as those with whom they choose to compete.”

The Food & Drug Administration is currently working to issue final rules on providing nutrition information to consumers.

“We understand that proposed rules have brought on some questions, and we look forward to working with Congress should these issues remain unresolved through the regulatory process,” DeFife says. “However, we strongly believe this legislative proposal is not the right way to address these concerns.”

DeFife adds, “The National Restaurant Association believes a uniform, national nutrition standard, rather than a patchwork of state and local requirements, is in the best interest of our members and consumers.”