CNSNews.com - Pelosi’s Health Care Bill Would Regulate Snack Machines at Estimated Cost of $56 Million the First Year

CNSNews.com - Pelosi’s Health Care Bill Would Regulate Snack Machines at Estimated Cost of $56 Million the First Year: "(CNSNews.com) – The House health-care reform plan unveiled last week by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) would do more than regulate insurance companies – it would even regulate vending machines.

The bill, which is posted online, would require that vending machine operators either create new machines that allow the customer to view nutrition facts or post nutritional information for each product near “each article of food or the selection button.”

The regulation could wind up costing vendors millions of dollars to make the changes, according to industry estimates.

Section 2572 of the bill (H.R. 3962) says, “In the case of an article of food sold from a vending machine that – (I) does not permit a prospective purchaser to examine the Nutritional Facts Panel before purchasing the article or does not otherwise provide visible nutrition information at the point of purchase; and (II) is operated by a person who is engaged in the business of owning or operating 20 or more vending machines, “the vending machine operator shall provide a sign in close proximity to each article of food or the selection button that includes a clear and conspicuous statement disclosing the number of calories contained in the article.” (See page 1,515 of H.R. 3962 Section 2572 (H) (viii).

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) is currently working to determine how much the provision will cost the vending industry in changes to packaging or machines. The CBO also requested an estimate from the National Automatic Merchandising Association (NAMA) -- the vending machine trade organization. On Oct. 30, the vending lobby group released a preliminary estimate that the changes would cost tens of millions of dollars at the outset."