Calorie-counting rule to leave out movie theatres

William Neuman

Movie theatres don?t hesitate to wag a stern finger at their patrons: Shhh! Turn off your cellphone. Don?t talk during the movie.

But don?t ask them to tell you how many calories are in that jumbo tub of popcorn.

The federal government released proposed rules requiring chain restaurants and other businesses that serve food to post calorie counts on menus and menu boards. But after objections from theatre chains, the rules give a pass to those box office snacks?even though a large popcorn and soda can contain as many calories as a typical person needs in a day.

The new disclosure rules also exempt alcoholic beverages served in restaurants, including beer, wine and high-calorie mixed drinks like margaritas and daiquiris.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said it would accept consumer and industry feedback on the rules before finishing them, hopefully by the end of this year. They are expected to go into effect some time next year, said Michael R Taylor, deputy commissioner for foods at the FDA.

The health care overhaul law passed last year included a provision that required chain restaurants and similar establishments that served food at 20 or more locations to display calorie counts for menu items.

The proposed new rules, which would spell out how the law would be applied, would take the place of a grab bag of menu-labelling laws that already exist around the country, including in New York City and California. The restaurant industry supported a federal labelling rule so that it would not have to comply with a range of different regulations.

A preliminary FDA document on the rules released last summer would have included movie theaters. But Taylor said officials decided to write the rules so that they would apply only to establishments whose primary purpose was to sell food or where at least half the floor space was dedicated to food sales.

?The thinking has absolutely evolved based on comments we?ve gotten from a number of quarters,? Taylor said. ?This is a different drawing of the circle of what is covered by this law.?

Under the change, the law also would not apply to bowling alleys, carnivals, airplanes and other establishments where the primary purpose was not the sale of food.

But it would cover convenience stores and supermarkets that offer ready-to-eat items like hot dogs, deli sandwiches or rotisserie chicken, as long as they were part of a chain of sufficient size. In such establishments and in restaurants, each item on a salad bar would have to be labelled to show how many calories were in a serving.

Taylor said the rules would not cover alcohol sold in restaurants because the FDA did not have jurisdiction to regulate alcohol.

In a separate proceeding, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau is considering whether to require nutritional information on the labels of alcoholic beverages.

Margo G Wootan, director of nutrition policy of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, said leaving out movie theaters from the new rules was a mistake.

?It doesn?t matter whether you happen to be watching a movie while you?re eating,? Wootan said. ?Those calories still count.?

The centre, an advocacy group, has issued reports showing that at some theatres, a large tub of popcorn with butter topping can contain nearly 1,500 calories. A large soda can contain 500 calories. Federal dietary guidelines say that the average person needs about 2,000 calories a day. However, Wootan said that over all, calorie labelling on menus would help people make healthier choices when they go out to eat, and she was pleased to see that the FDA was moving relatively quickly to put the rules in place.

The FDA also issued proposed rules for calorie labelling on vending machines, which was also required by the health care law. Under the rules, vending machine operators with 20 or more machines would have to post the calorie content of items they sell.

The National Association of Theater Owners, a trade group, had called for movie theatres to be exempt from the menu labeling law. On its website, the group said that movies were ?escapist entertainment? and that moviegoers did not go there with the intent of eating a meal. A representative of the group could not be reached.

The federal rules would take the place of local or state laws for chain restaurants and other establishments covered by the federal regulations. But local governments would be free to create laws for establishments that were left outside the federal rules. New York City?s labelling law already requires movie theatre chains to post calorie information. It also requires calorie labeling for alcoholic beverages listed on menus at restaurant chains.