Friday, October 21, 2011

Proposed Vending Rule

Right before the IOM released the Phase II report that I mentioned yesterday (and printed in full today), I had gotten my hands on the text for the proposed vending machine labeling rule - mentioned previously.
I had been in recent meetings with some colleagues on campus in regards to a vending machine initiative. We knew that the FDA was supposed to give its final rule on both menu and vending labeling by the end of this year.
As I said, I have mentioned the calorie disclosure rules here and am following the progress, but basically it has to do with a mandate in the ACA. (if you click the link above you will get the better overview) This regards disclosing calorie content information at point of purchase, before purchase, so that customers make more informed choices.  Well at least they will have the information they need to make the informed choice  - there is no guarantee that they will use it and of course, education and promotion are key to all the initiatives (vending, menu and front of pack).
I found the full text by accident - I was just looking for an update.  There is not much more to share about the propsed rule, but the full document talks about the cost to vending companies and the projected benefits to consumers and  the country with regard to productivity, saved lives and reduced medical costs.  

All this preamble was necessary for me to tell you some things that  I found interesting or newsworthy in the document.   So my friends, that is exactly what I will do - tomorrow :)


 

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