Last Friday, the FDA published notice about draft guidance on the issue of menu labeling in restaurants. The idea of labeling food choices in restaurants has long been a goal of those who advocate for greater education for consumers in an effort to battle obesity and related co-morbidities. Many have felt that people should not have to guess about the content of the food they consume, but should be making informed choices.
To that end, the FDA has drafted regulations to set out how to best go about this and is inviting public comment in doing so. That seemed like a good time to examine the issue a little more closely to define what is at stake exactly, who should care, and what they should be doing. In addition, I was interested in what the communications challenges are associated with such a change.
I took the opportunity to speak with a colleague at my office – Melissa Novak who is co-chair of the Food Practice at Fleishman-Hillard. We discussed what FDA is trying to accomplish, what’s new in the FDA announcement, what consumers might think about it and what companies should be considering.
[audio:http://eyeonfda.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DS_20103.mp3|width=300]