Aug 13, 2008 11:50 am US/Pacific
San Mateo County Adopts Restaurant Menu Label Law
REDWOOD CITY (CBS 5 / AP / BCN) ―
San Mateo County has approved new rules requiring chain restaurants to provide customers with nutritional information about the food they serve.
The rules would affect about 30 restaurants in unincorporated parts of the county if approved in a second reading. It would apply to about 450 restaurants countywide if county cities vote to adopt it.
The unanimous vote Tuesday by supervisors would require chains with at least 15 locations in California to list nutritional information, including total calories, fat content and sodium amounts of items on the menu.
"This is an opportunity for people to understand what they're eating, to make conscious and educated food choices in the future,'' said Supervisor Jerry Hill, who introduced the legislation along with Supervisor Rose Jacobs Gibson.
The ordinance would go into effect Jan. 1, 2009, Hill said.
The legislation was modeled after similar ordinances recently adopted by San Francisco and Santa Clara counties, which have been challenged by the California Restaurant Association.
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