New Menu Laws Coming To Ontario

Just when I was starting to feel that proposing new menu labelling laws was so early-2014, along come two major announcements from the provincial Liberals and U.S. federal government that are likely to have profound effects on the restaurant franchise industry in North America.

Laws that require certain restaurants to publish certain nutritional information concerning their menus are rooted in two main policy objectives – reduce childhood obesity and reduce healthcare costs.  Both are laudable and uncontroversial goals which, of course, deserve our support (which they do have, by the way – a recent University of Toronto research study found that 80% of surveyed members wanted to know the nutritional content of menu items), but compliance with and enforcement of these laws may prove to be quite costly for restaurant operators across Canada and the United States.