Senator Murray Praises Victory for Families as Menu Labeling Rule Goes into Effect

Menu labeling law passed eight years ago as part of the Affordable Care Act

Law requires food menus to provide more nutritional information to consumers, including calorie counts

Information about sodium, saturated fat, sugar, and other nutrients must also be available in writing

Murray called out the Food and Drug Administration last year for unnecessary delays in implementing the law

Murray: “This is an important victory for families—and one that’s long overdue.”

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released the following statement as the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) final rule on menu labeling took effect.  

“This is an important victory for families—and one that’s long overdue. People want, and deserve, access to the nutritional information they need to make healthy decisions about the food they eat, so I’m glad that today the Food and Drug Administration has finally moved forward with this rule to require information be available to consumers when they eat out. I’ll be watching closely as this law finally goes into effect, and I am going to keep working to make it easier for families to find the information they need to make healthy choices about what they buy and eat.”

The menu labeling law was passed in 2010 as part of the Affordable Care Act. The final rule developed by the FDA, which goes into effect today, requires certain food establishments to include calorie counts on their menus and to have written information about sodium, saturated fat, sugar, and other nutrients available to consumers.

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