The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently published the long awaited final rules on menu and vending machine nutrition labeling. The rules implement section 4205 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Affordable Care Act), which amended section 403(q) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) to establish: (1) requirements for the nutrition labeling of standard menu items at restaurants or similar retail food establishments with 20 or more locations; and (2) calorie disclosure requirements for certain foods that are sold out of vending machines operated by a person engaged in the business of owning or operating 20 or more vending machines. Establishments and vending machine operators that are not covered by the rules may elect to be subject to the rules by voluntarily registering with FDA. The intent of these rules is to provide clear, accurate, and consistent nutrition information—calorie content in particular—to enable consumers to make informed and healthful decisions.

Although certain requirements of section 4205 of the Affordable Care Act became effective upon enactment, FDA announced in a January 2011 notice that it would exercise enforcement discretion on those requirements until final rules were published and effective. The Agency published proposed rules for menu labeling and vending machine labeling in April 2011. After considering comments to the proposals, FDA issued final rules on December 1, 2014. The final rule for menu labeling will become effective on December 1, 2015, and the vending machine labeling rule will become effective on December 1, 2016.