The delay in implementing the federal rule necessitating that all food chains declare the calorie count of the foods served by them on their menu boards notwithstanding, the popular sandwich chain has announced that all its 27,000 outlets across the United States will have new calorie boards with calorie counts from April 11.
The decision to take the lead comes as various restaurant chains in the United States have waited for the final guidance of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as well as the implementation of a rule making it mandatory for food sellers having 20 or additional outlets to post information regarding food counts, The Associated Press reported.
In fact, the enforcement of the rule, which was scheduled for Dec. 1 this year, was once again delayed in March and now it is expected to be implemented sometime next year at the earliest. The FDA has, however, not announced a precise date from when it will make the final guidance available. It just said last month that it would be done "as soon as possible."
According to Subway, the chain has already put up menu boards with calorie counts in several of its stores located in the New York City as per requirements of the FDA.
For several years, Subway sandwich shops have been sharing complete nutrition information with their customers with a view to enabling them to make more informed meal choices, Restaurant Business Online quoted a statement issued by the chain's in-house dietitian, Lanette Kovachi.
In recent times, Subway has endeavored to offer a sense of menu transparency, as their chain disclosed its plans to introduce a new additive-free protein alternative and completely get rid of its meat supply containing antibiotics. Incidentally, not long back, Subway was condemned for using what is called the "yoga mat chemical" in its sandwich bread, but now the chain has pledged to get rid of all artificial colors, preservatives as well as flavors from its menu latest by 2017.
It is worth noting here that the labeling regulations have gone through several revisions and delays since they were introduced for the first time. This is mainly because businesses asserted that the earlier versions of the rules were either very confusing or not applicable to chains having heavy off-site or delivery business.
