For Immediate Release
Contact: Kathy Grannis or Ellen Davis (202) 783-7971
Email: grannisk@nrf.com or davise@nrf.com

Chain Restaurants Applaud Gov. Schwarzenegger
for Veto of Controversial Menu Labeling Bill

Washington , October 15, 2007 – The National Council of Chain Restaurants applauded Saturday's veto of California Senate Bill 120 by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. The bill would have forced chain restaurants with at least fourteen locations to post calories beside each regular food item on their menu boards. It also would have required those restaurants to provide information about calories, saturated fat and trans fat, carbohydrates and levels of sodium on hand-out menus.

Governor Schwarzenegger's veto follows a decision last month by a federal court judge striking down a labeling mandate in New York City for exceeding the city's authority.

In a letter to members of the California State Senate, Governor Schwarzenegger called the bill “impractical,” saying he refused to sign it due to concern that the bill would “place burdens and costs upon some restaurant owners while imposing no burdens or costs on others.” Schwarzenegger acknowledged in his letter to the Senate that many chain restaurants already provide nutritional information to their customers in a variety of ways, through posters, tray liners, and the Internet.

“NCCR applauds Governor Schwarzenegger for recognizing that this ill-advised mandate would have punished the very restaurants that have been providing information to customers while not requiring others to provide any information at all,” said Jack Whipple, President of the National Council of Chain Restaurants. “This veto should give policymakers considering similar proposals in other jurisdictions significant pause, especially given the fact that chain restaurants voluntarily provided comprehensive nutritional information to their customers for years.”

The National Council of Chain Restaurants is the leading trade association exclusively representing chain restaurant companies. For more than 40 years, NCCR has worked to advance sound public policy that best serves the interests of both chain restaurants and the millions of people they employ. NCCR members include some of the country's largest and well respected quick-serve and casual dining companies. The National Council of Chain Restaurants is a division of the National Retail Federation, the world's largest retail trade group. www.nccr.net

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