New Obamacare regulations will force pizza chains like Domino’s to post up to 34 million nutrition signs in its stores — one for every pizza combination the company makes.
The rules require fast food and grocery stores that have more than 20 stores to require labels for each product they produce.
Jenny Fouracre-Petko, the legislative director for Domino’s, said mandated signs will cost Domino’s nearly $5,000 per store. Even worse, the cost will get passed down to the consumer, many of whom will never see the signs since “10 percent of pizza customers never enter a Domino’s store” because they use Domino’s exclusively as a delivery service.
“It’s not like a Big Mac. Pizza is customizable, there are options to factor in,” Fouracre-Petko said. “There are 34 million pizza combinations. We’ve done the math.”
Erik Lieberman, counsel for the Food Marketing Institute, said grocery stores will have to do the same.
“Consider just one fresh-baked blueberry muffin. If one is sold, you need a nutrition sign or sticker,” he said. “If a half dozen are sold, a different one is required. Same if you sell a dozen.”
He said the new rules will cost the grocery industry $1 billion since stores “average 1,500 fresh made items each.”
The “Common Sense Nutrition Disclosure Act of 2012,” which has been introduced in Congress, could curtail some of Obamacare’s excesses, according to Lieberman.