The statewide bill is very similar to that of Multnomah County, which includes the city of Portland. The Oregon Restaurant Association dropped its opposition to the bill when it was amended to preempt all local labeling regulations, including those in Multnomah County, where a menu-labeling mandate was adopted last year. Violators would face fines of up to $1,000. The legislation, House Bill 2726, also requires restaurant companies with 15 or more outlets nationwide to make available to consumers on request written information about the typical value of carbohydrates, saturated fat, trans fat and sodium associated with menu items beginning Jan. Ted Kulongoski’s desk within two weeks, and he was expected to sign it into law. The measure at press time was expected to go to Gov. In Salem, Ore., a bill requiring chain restaurants throughout the state to post calorie counts on menus, menu boards and drive-thru signage beginning in 2011 won a 21-7 vote of approval by the Senate. Lawmakers need to take a class in Business 101. It’s all part of a very frustrating anti-business climate. We have about 500 restaurants in Maine that will be affected, and will create serious competitive disadvantages. “We expect its impact here to be pretty significant. “We’ve seen action in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Maine all in a short period of time. “It’s like a wave passed through New England,” said Dick Grotton, president and chief executive of the Maine Restaurant Association. The Massachusetts Public Health Council passed statewide menu-labeling regulations in May.

Lawmakers in both Maine’s House and Senate also approved a statewide menu-labeling measure in June, although further action from both chambers is awaited. Oregon and Connecticut in early June joined the growing list of states embracing menu-labeling mandates, steadily adding to the patchwork of laws that restaurant association officials have been trying to prevent for the past several years.

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