Another Calif. county looks to mandate menu labeling

California’s San Mateo County is moving toward a vote on a menu disclosure bill that would levy such penalties on noncomplying restaurants as the revocation of their operating permits, according to local press reports.

The two county lawmakers who formed a subcommittee to evaluate the proposal have recommended that the full board of supervisors approve it at their meeting on Aug. 12, the news reports said. With two of the supervisors already supporting the measure, only one more yea is needed for approval by the five-person board.

The bill virtually copies the requirements of San Francisco’s nutrition disclosure requirement, which takes effect on some chain restaurants there in September. The San Mateo measure would require chain restaurants, defined as places sharing a name with at least 14 other places in the state, to disclose the calorie, fat, sodium and carbohydrate content of every standard menu item. The information would have to be disclosed on menus, menu boards or posters.

The San Mateo version apparently goes further in the sanctions it would impose on restaurants that fail to comply with the law. Local media say the penalties being considered include the suspension or loss of the establishments’ operating permits. San Francisco’s law would levy fines.

The news reports have not indicated how many San Mateo restaurants would likely be affected by the ordinance, since the law would apply only to unincorporated areas of the county, or regions outside the jurisdiction of incorporated cities. According to 2004 data, less than 9 percent of the county's 712,400 residents reside within unincorporated areas. However, county officials have said they may ask the cities to enact the measure as well.

The California Restaurant Association recently sued San Francisco in an attempt to halt enactment of that city and namesake county’s disclosure requirement. The organization said it would prefer a single labeling requirement for the whole state, rather than a patchwork of mandates. San Mateo would be the third county in California to pass a disclosure law, after San Francisco and Santa Clara.

The CRA supports a statewide bill that is currently before the state Senate Appropriations Committee. That proposal would provide restaurants with more ways of disseminating information than they are permitted under the San Francisco and Santa Clara laws.

San Mateo County is located south of San Francisco.