The national dialogue to raise the minimum wage, boosted by legislation in more than a dozen states, continues in the United States. But the conversation and controversy are not confined to the U.S. The Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association is warning that the Ontario government’s boost to the minimum wage will result in fewer jobs…

It just got a little easier to navigate the rules, regulations and red tape of the New York restaurant scene for the city’s diverse operators. An updated version of the Restaurant Owner Manual provides user-friendly guidance to more than 24,000 operators and their largely immigrant workforces on the how-tos of operating within New York. The…

Apparently, a lot of voices want to be heard on regulating trans fat. Because of a larger-than-anticipated number of stakeholder requests for speaking time, the U.S. Federal Drug Administration is adding another 60 days to the comment period on its preliminary determination that partially hydrogenated oils, the primary dietary source of artificial trans fat in…

New Year’s Day brought good tidings and higher hourly wages for workers in the 13 states that increased their minimum wage on Jan. 1. Of the 2.56 million workers estimated to benefit from the increase, 1.4 million will be directly impacted as they currently earn the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour and will…

California is taking it slow on the state’s new law banning bare-hand contact with prepared food. At the urging of the California Restaurant Association, the two agencies in charge of enforcing the new law (the California Department of Public Health and the California Conference of Directors of Environmental Health) agreed to implement a six-month “soft”…

Thousands of restaurant and foodservice managers across Illinois who are just starting to navigate changes to the state’s Food Handling Regulation Enforcement Act are getting some help from a partnership between the Illinois Restaurant Association and the National Restaurant Association’s ServSafe food-safety certification program. The act, passed last August, makes changes to existing requirements for…

After victories in his battles against tobacco, trans fats and soda, outgoing New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is waging one last battle with his city’s restaurant industry. His administration is pressuring the City Council to ban foam packaging, such as cups and takeout containers, from stores and restaurants.   Last February, the mayor said…

As we wrote after our annual FER President’s Preview E&S Market Forecast meeting in late July, we are quite optimistic about growth of the foodservice equipment and supplies market next year. John Muldowney (our forecasting partner and a marketing executive at The Boelter Cos.) and I forecast current dollar growth of 4.8% for the E&S…

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that nonfarm payrolls increased by 321,000 jobs in November, one of the biggest gains in almost five years. What heartened many economists even more was that wages and hours worked began to tick upward during the month. Stagnant wage gains have been a stubborn problem of this long…

Consumer sentiment reached 88.8, its highest mark since July 2007, in the final November reading by Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers. The group said the November gain was “due to improved personal finances as well as a more favorable outlook for employment.” Those surveyed believe employment gains will continue and expect the largest…