New York State Restaurant Association v. New York City Board of Health

The New York City Board of Health (the board) (defendant) passed Regulation 81.50, which required several chain restaurants to post calorie-content information regarding their food. The board passed the regulation to help reduce the rising levels of obesity following several studies and reports on the dangerous health effects of obesity and how informing consumers of the calorie content of their food might help reduce obesity. The New York State Restaurant Association (the association) (plaintiff) filed an action in federal district court against the board on multiple grounds, including that the regulation violated the restaurants’ First Amendment rights to free speech. The board argued that the regulation had a reasonable relationship to the legitimate interest of reducing obesity because it aimed to reduce consumer confusion and promote informed decision-making. The board further explained that research demonstrated obesity was a contributing factor to several diseases and that it had targeted chain restaurants because their food was often high in calories. The association argued that the regulation was unconstitutional because it could not pass the heightened scrutiny required by First Amendment challenges. The district court returned a verdict for the board on the ground that the appropriate standard to apply to the association’s First Amendment challenge was rational-basis review, which the regulation satisfied. The matter was appealed.