Commenting on calories more fun than counting them

You still have time to comment on the proposed requirements for providing nutrition information for standard menu items in certain chain restaurants and similar retail food establishments. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has extended the comment period until July 5, 2011, for the proposed rule, which was published in the Federal Register on April 6, 2011 (76 FR 19192).

You may recall that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) amended the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to require restaurants and similar retail food establishments that are part of a chain with 20 or more locations doing business under the same name and offering for sale substantially the same menu items to provide calorie and other nutrition information for standard menu items, including food on display and self-service food.

Ways to submit comments. You may submit comments, identified by Docket No. FDA-2011-F-0172 and/or RIN 0910-AG57, by any of the following methods:

Submit electronic comments in the following way: Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov/. Follow the instructions for submitting comments.

Submit written submissions in the following ways:

• FAX: 301-827-6870.
• Mail/Hand delivery/Courier (for paper, disk, or CD-ROM submissions): Division of Dockets Management (HFA-305), Food and Drug Administration, 5630 Fishers Lane, rm. 1061, Rockville, MD 20852.
  

Let’s talk turkey. More than 300 comments have been submitted so far, ranging from topics such as trans fat to alcoholic beverages. Why not add your favorite nutrition topics to the list? I don’t know about you, but I’d rather comment on calories than count them.