The Daily Dish: April 1, 2016

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced that it will once again delay the enforcement of menu labeling rules until next year. The rules will require restaurants, retailers, and other establishments with 20 or more locations that sell prepared foods to post the calorie content of food "clearly and conspicuously" on menus, menu boards, and displays. Years of delays for widespread enforcement have been the result of opposition from supermarkets, convenience stores, and other retailers with unique concerns that would make compliance a burden on their businesses. The final rules were released in 2014, and restaurants and retailers had until the end of 2015 to comply. Last summer, the deadline was pushed to the end of 2016, and this month the deadline has been pushed back again, as language in a year-end spending bill from Congress has allowed the FDA to push compliance to a year after it publishes the final guidance. The agency is still working on the guidelines.

 

 

There are only two steadfast rules for eating pizza in New York: You always fold and you never, ever eat your slice with a knife and fork. Republican Presidential hopeful John Kasich annoyed some people in the Big Apple when he went to a Queens pizzeria and ate his pizza with a knife and fork. Don't worry, Kasich, you're not the only one. Republican frontrunner Donald Trump also was criticized on the campaign trail for cutting his pizza with a knife and fork. As far as we know, Hillary Clinton and Brooklyn-born Bernie Sanders have not been spotted doing the same. 

 

 

Mary Biggins, founder of ClassPass, hopes to strike gold again with a new concept, MealPass, which is now available in NYC, specifically in Chelsea, Flatiron, Union Square, and Gramercy. MealPass takes the inconveniences, such as waiting on line and the high costs often associated with eating out for lunch during the workweek, and provides a straightforward, affordable solution. Users pay $99 per month to eat lunch on weekdays from a large selection of restaurants. Eater notes that the monthly fee will eventually go up to $119 for New Yorkers. Participating restaurants offer one lunch option every day, and the offerings must also appear on the regular menu.

 

That's today's Daily Dish, thanks for watching. Stop by tomorrow for another helping.