Keep Food Legal demands information

Keep Food Legal has announced its filing of lawsuits demanding disclosure of information related to an array of New York City municipal laws and regulations:

The information we have sought under FOIL but have been so far unable to obtain—since our first filings, made on June 27, 2012—consists of materials related to the development of New York City’s most restrictive food laws and regulations, including the city’s trans fat ban; mandatory menu labeling law; restaurant letter grade system; ban on providing food meant for the homeless and less fortunate; restrictions on urban gardens and farmers markets; and currently enjoined soda ban. Keep Food Legal also requested information pertaining to proposals in the city—reported in the popular press and elsewhere—to limit salt or sodium in foods; restrict tavern licenses and happy hours; adopt so-called “Meatless Mondays;” and crack down on food trucks.

and they’re doing this to

… force the Bloomberg administration to disclose to us information about the basis of many of its food policies—and the people and groups that have influenced that policymaking. Keep Food Legal hopes to review and publicize that information in order to raise public awareness about how New York City makes food policy and which people and groups have influenced that policymaking.

This will be interesting.

Copies of their filings are available online: v. New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and v. Office of the Mayor of the City of New York.