The fossil-fuel industry is not the only conservative-leaning business lobby for which CNSNews.com will serve as a loyal stenographer. Craig Bannister writes in an April 17 CNS blog post:
Food chains like pizza retailers are warning that an Obamacare regulation set to kick in on May 5 will overwhelm customers, raise prices and bankrupt businesses.
A costly and burdensome 400-page regulation in the Affordable Care Act (Section 4205) is set to go into effect on May 5 requiring any “restaurant” with 20 or more locations to post in-store menu boards with separate nutrition information for every food item and combination served.
Bannister regurgitates talking points from industry lobbying groups the American Pizza Community, “which represents pizza companies like Pizza Hut, Papa John’s and Dominos,” and the Food Marketing Institute, “whose members operate 37,000 supermarkets.” Bannister helpfully and editorializes — something the “mainstream media” Bannister loves to criticize would never do — by putting in underlined bold type key PR phrases “locally-produced products will be dropped” and “estimates the first-year cost of compliance at more than $1 billion.”
Bannister fails to report, however, that the rules have been in the works for years, takeout-oriented chains like Domino’s don’t have to post calorie counts in-store, temporary items are exempt from disclosure, and other restaurant chains already comply with the standards.
Further, Bannister misstates the compliance costs. He uncritically repeats the FMI’s claim that “the first-year cost of compliance at more than $1 billion”; in fact, as Media Matters notes, the Food and Drug Administration found that the $1 billion cost would actually be spread out over a 20-year period.
Bannister quotes nobody in support of the calorie disclosure rules, so slavishly is his devotion to being a stenographer to food industry interests.