The current administration is reportedly making counting calories easier by approving a part of Obamacare's 2010 Affordable Care Act, which is taking effect on Monday, May 7.
A Healthier Approach To Awareness
After being delayed several times, the mandate is finally going to make its mark next week. By then, supermarkets, chain restaurants, and movie theaters will be required to post the information about the products on offer.
Other reports noted there were some fast-food chains that were required by local laws to list the details a little over a decade ago. Yet, what's different this time is that it has now been elevated into a national requirement.
Setting Expectation Correctly
While most of the public might expect that the Obamacare calorie count mandate is to be immediately applicable next week, the government presumably understands that there might be some exceptions as everyone struggles to get on board quickly.
For example, Cheesecake Factory confirmed that it is ready to make changes come Monday albeit not entirely. A representative from the restaurant confirmed that the nutrition information will be updated on its online take-out menus. Meanwhile, the restaurants will have a hard copy of the calorie count per menu item available for the diner's perusal for the meantime.
The company revealed that it is a temporary workaround due to the fact that it is in between printing cycles. Calorie information on the table menus is estimated to become available early summer. It is estimated that the FDA might allow at least year for the involved businesses to meet compliance, which is more helpful than the issuance of warning letters and fines.
"Nobody is going to be hammered for not having everything in place," said Scott Gottlieb, FDA Commissioner
The Importance Of Public Health
While previous studies claimed that the public does not really care about the number of calories they consumer, the Food and Drug Administration seems to believe otherwise. According to Gottlieb, the FDA's research shows that consumers who were given the nutritional information of the product opted to order items that were lower by 50 calories in a day.
Experts claim that the reduction is quite small to even matter, but in weeks or even months, it already delivers a substantial benefit for the individual.
"This is a meaningful, incremental step in addressing the country's obesity epidemic," explained Gottlieb.
As the country prepares to adopt the new rules detailed by the Obamacare calorie count mandate, the FDA also confirmed that the nutritional information is not required on promotional flyers and signs, which offers some flexibility for the establishment to advertise its products.
