Really, you ask? Was a new law passed demanding that all brewers label beers provided in keg also come with calorie counts?
Well, sorta. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) carried a provision requiring chain restaurants to give customers calories counts for food provided. The Food and Drug Administration thinks beer is a food, and therefore is developing regulations to impose this requirement. Craft brewers are not exactly happy, as this will force them to pay for additional caloric tests. WatchDog.org reports:
“The new regulations also will apply to grocery and convenience stores, bowling alleys, movie theaters and sports venues — severely curtailing where some beers are sold. The menu labeling requirement is hitting businesses across the entire food service industry. By the Obama administration’s official estimate, the new requirement will cost businesses as much as $1.5 billion. On a per-business level, the Cato Institute estimates the labeling mandate costs between $49,000 and $77,000, according to HHS. Since the average food service employee costs his or her employer about $22,000 annually, those fancy calorie-labeled menus have set every food service business in America back by two to three employees — while not doing a thing to increase productivity or profit….” (Read more)
