By Crystal Swann
April 5, 2010

When President Barack Obama signed into law the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the legislation included national menu labeling standards. The nutrition labeling of standard menu items at chain restaurants provision mandates that all restaurant chains with 20 or more outlets post calorie counts on their menus and drive-through signs along with information on daily recommended calories for a healthy person. The recommended daily guideline is 2,000 calories per day as defined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The legislation also requires labels on food items in vending machines.

The measure is intended to create a national policy modeled on a requirement that has already taken effect in New York City and was to go into effect in 2011 in places like California and Oregon. Its unclear when the law will go into effect. The Food and Drug Administration is charged with proposing specific regulations no later than a year from now, but completing the rules could take longer.

More than a dozen states have been considering labeling measures or have already passed them, though many have not yet taken effect. The new legislation overrides many existing laws, though some localities will be able to continue enforcing rules that are more stringent than the federal requirements. New York City, for instance, is expected to continue requiring chains with 15 or more outlets to post nutritional data, compared with the standard of 20 outlets in the federal law. The new federal law is supported by the restaurant industry; many public health experts and has bipartisan support in Congress.