Judge: City Can Enforce Posting of Calorie Data

By E.B. SOLOMONT, Staff Reporter of the Sun
April 17, 2008

A federal judge has cleared the way for city health officials to require fast-food chains to post calorie information on their menus. Over the objections of the restaurant industry, Judge Richard Holwell ruled in favor of the city yesterday, dismissing an argument that the requirement violates the First Amendment right of restaurant owners to decide what to print on their menus. Noting that 56.1% of city residents are obese or overweight, he wrote that "the required disclosure of caloric information is reasonably related to the government's interest in providing consumers with accurate nutritional information and therefore does not unduly infringe on the First Amendment rights" of restaurant owners and operators.

Restaurant lobbyists said they would appeal the decision. "Obviously, we're disappointed," the executive vice president of the New York State Restaurant Association, Charles Hunt, said. "For a non-elected agency to issue something that affects how a legal, taxpaying business is run — with such a hard line on how something has to be done — we just think it's not in their purview," he said.

With yesterday's ruling behind them, health officials said the regulation would take effect on Tuesday. Officials said they would give restaurants a grace period and would not fine violators until June 4.

The regulation, which applies to restaurants with more than 15 outlets nationwide, will affect 10% of the city's 24,000 eateries. Health officials said those restaurants account for more than a third of meals eaten in restaurants.

"This is not about telling any business what they can or cannot sell," the city's health commissioner, Dr. Thomas Frieden, said. He said the restaurant industry should "stop the legal wrangling."

"It's clear that people want the information," Dr. Frieden said. "When people see information, they are more likely to make a healthier decision."