House Republicans are proposing a one-year delay on new FDA menu labeling rules that require restaurants, convenience stores, pizza chains and grocery stores to display the calorie counts of their food items. Without a delay, the requirements are scheduled to take effect in December. The proposed delay was included in an agriculture spending bill. Earlier […]
Tag: legislation
Posted in, Northeast
GMA Cites Costs And Challenges In Vermont Labeling Law, And More…
New Channels News In Brief… The Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) says the enormous costs, complexities and challenges for food manufacturers to comply with Vermont’s food labeling mandate show the critical need for Congress to pass federal legislation setting a uniform national food labeling standard. Vermont’s state labeling mandate on foods with genetically modified organisms (GMOs) […]
Posted in, Northeast
New York Employer Community Launches ‘Save NY Restaurants’ Coalition
Groups representing New York’s restaurant and business communities, which employ hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers across the state, have launched the “Save NY Restaurants” Coalition. The coalition is contesting New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s decision to establish a self-appointed wage board that targets fast food restaurants. Coalition members include the New York State Restaurant […]
Posted in, Northeast
First ‘Warning Label’ For Soft Drinks Under Review In San Francisco
Seven months after local voters rejected San Francisco’s proposed tax on sugary drinks, city lawmakers changed tactics in hopes of curbing soft drink consumption in the city. A three-person panel of San Francisco supervisors voted to advance a package of laws that zero in on soda and other sugar-sweetened beverages, including what would be the […]
Posted in, Northeast
Pizzeria Regina Restaurants Remain Despite Parent Company’s Chapter 11 Filing, And More…
Food Service News In Brief The parent company of Pizzeria Regina has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, but the pizza chain will continue even though it will close a few locations in food courts and malls. Boston Restaurant Associates entered bankruptcy proceedings in order to get out of several leases at some mall locations with slow foot […]
Posted in, Northeast
OTA Petitions USDA For Organic Check-Off Program
The Organic Trade Association (OTA), in collaboration with the GRO Organic Core Committee, formally petitioned the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to begin steps to conduct a research and promotion check-off program for the organic industry. The OTA action reflects three years of dialogue with the organic sector and comes 25 years after Congress authorized […]
Posted in, Northeast
MRA To Fight For Extension Of Massachusetts Sick Leave Law
The Massachusetts Restaurant Association (MRA) is urging its members to contact legislators and encourage a delay in the implementation—until Jan. 1, 2016—of the mandated sick leave law. In November 2014, voters approved a ballot question that mandates paid sick leave for all employees of employers with 11 or more employees. The law takes effect July […]
Posted in, Northeast
Bill Filed To Raise Federal Minimum Wage To $12 Per Hour
About a quarter of American workers would get a raise under a recently introduced bill on Capitol Hill. Co-sponsored by Reps. Bobby Scott (D-Virginia) and Sen. Patty Murray (D-Washington), the bill would gradually increase the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $12 an hour over five years, and then index it to median wage growth. […]
Posted in, Northeast
NACS Joins NGA And FMI In Backing Common Sense Nutrition Labeling Bill
The National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) has joined with the National Grocers Association and the Food Marketing Institute in backing the Common Sense Nutrition Disclosure Act of 2015, HR 2017, a bipartisan bill reintroduced into Congress on Tuesday with the goal of addressing what the groups say is the FDA’s misinterpretation of a chain […]
Posted in, Northeast
MRA To Review AG’s Draft Regs On Mandated Sick Leave, And More…
Food Service News In Brief The Massachusetts Restaurant Association (MRA) is reviewing recommendations made by the state Attorney General’s office for implementing the Mandated Sick Leave Law. The next phase is a public comment period, and the AG’s office has scheduled a series of nine listening sessions and public hearings on the draft regulations to […]
Posted in, Industry News, National, Store News
NGA, FMI Advocate For Legislation To Scale Back FDA’s Menu Labeling Rule
The National Grocers Association (NGA) and Food Marketing Institute (FMI) offered their support to cosponsors of the Common Sense Nutrition Disclosure Act of 2015, HR 2017, a bipartisan bill reintroduced into Congress on Tuesday with the goal of addressing what the groups say is the FDA’s misinterpretation of a chain restaurant menu labeling law that […]
Posted in, Northeast
Vermont Federal District Court Upholds GMO Labeling Law
U.S. Federal District Court Judge Christina Reiss on Monday ruled against the Grocery Manufacturers Association and other food industry groups in their request for a preliminary injunction to block a GMO labeling law from going into effect on July 1, 2016. The GMA released this statement after the court ruling. “While we are pleased that the […]
Posted in, Northeast
Vermont Attorney General Adopts GMO Labeling Bill
The Vermont Attorney General’s Office has formally adopted the regulations implementing the law requiring the labeling of foods produced with genetically modified organisms. The rule takes effect July 1, 2016. “This is a process that began with the legislature’s careful crafting of Act 120,” said Vermont Attorney General Bill Sorrell. “We are pleased at the […]
Posted in, Northeast
NHLRA Warns About Possible Tourism Promotion Cuts, And More…
Food Service News In Brief The New Hampshire Lodging and Restaurant Association (NHLRA) has notified its members that the New Hampshire House of Representatives has chosen to suspend the law that establishes the Division of Travel and Tourism Development (DTTD) budget and cut $3.77 million from DTTD’s tourism development fund. That is roughly a 75 […]
Posted in, Northeast
Getty Realty To Sell 33 Properties In The Northeast, And More…
Convenience Store News In Brief Getty Realty Corp. of Jericho, New York, is selling six operating and non-operating stations and 27 commercial properties in seven Northeast states—six in Connecticut, four in Maine, six in Massachusetts, two in New Hampshire, nine in New York, and three in Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. NRC Realty is coordinating the […]
Posted in, Northeast
Dunkin’ Donuts Adds Google Wallet As New Mobile Payment Option, And More…
Food Service News In Brief Dunkin’ Donuts has unveiled a new mobile payment option, announcing that U.S. customers with Android devices can now purchase and reload virtual Dunkin’ Donuts Cards using Google Wallet. This new digital payment option provides guests with a new way to load and reload their virtual Dunkin’ Donuts Cards within the […]
Posted in, Northeast
Mass. AG Drafts E-Cigarette Regulations, And More…
Convenience Store News In Brief According to the Massachusetts Food Association, new Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healy has released revised tobacco regulations that seek to regulate e-cigarettes as a tobacco product, placing the same restrictions on their purchase and use as those on tobacco cigarettes and also keeping them from being sold to minors. A […]
Posted in, Northeast
R.I. Legislature Reviews Tobacco Purchase Age Bill, And More…
Convenience Store News In Brief… Rhode Island legislators are reviewing a bill that would make the state the first in the nation to raise the legal age to buy tobacco to 21 years old. The bill would apply to all forms of tobacco… The Asian American Trade Associations Council (AATAC) has partnered with CAF Environmental […]
Posted in, Grocery News, National, Suppliers
Industry Applauds Introduction Of National Food Labeling Bill
Food industry groups are praising this week’s introduction of a national food labeling bill, known as The Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act. The bill, introduced by U.S. Reps. Mike Pompeo (R-Kansas) and G.K. Butterfield (D-North Carolina), establishes a federal standard for food and beverage products made with genetically modified ingredients, or GMOs. It preempts […]
Posted in, Northeast
FDA Provides Updated Guidance On Menu-Labeling Rules
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a “Small Entity Compliance Guide” to assist restaurants and “similar retail food establishments” (including many convenience stores) in understanding the recently updated menu-labeling standards. The FDA describes the guide, which can be accessed online as a plain language summary of the rule. However, during a congressional hearing […]