April 5, 2011 | By Paul Frumkin

So you don’t quite feel up to struggling through all 183 pages of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s proposed menu-labeling regulation?

Don’t worry. The editors of Nation’s Restaurant News have read through the epic document and attempted to address many of the key questions foodservice operators might have about the proposed rules.

The FDA issued the much-anticipated regulations April 1 after missing an initial deadline of March 23 — one year after President Obama signed the provision into law as part of the federal health care reform, or the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010.

The agency attributed the delay to the complexity of the issue — a concern shared by many in the industry who worried that the government would attempt to fashion a one-size-fits-all solution. But now that the document is finally here, the industry can see for itself, and many associations and operators are thumbing through the document as we speak.

“The publication of the proposed regulations in the Federal Register … is the next step forward in providing the industry with consistent, national requirements on how to implement the new uniform nutrition information standard,” Dawn Sweeney, president and chief executive of the National Restaurant Association, said in a statement Friday.

“The National Restaurant Association anticipates there will be many questions and after full review of the proposal, will provide detailed comments to the FDA to ensure that restaurants are provided adequate time and are able to comply with the regulations effectively, as well as provide information to consumers in the most usable way,” she added.

For those who still want to weigh the document as presented, the proposed regulations can be found at http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2011/2011-7940.htm.

The industry has less than 60 days to comment on the proposed rules.

NRN selected some of the biggest questions operators may have, with explanations to follow: Click to read on