The Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) recently released final industry guidance on the new menu labeling requirements in accordance with 21 C.F.R. § 101.11, implemented to comply with a provision of the 2010 Affordable Care Act. The new menu labeling rules require chain restaurants to provide calorie information on the menu and provide, upon customer request, additional nutritional information for menu items. The FDA’s final guidance can be found here, and will help industry members comply with these new menu labeling rules, which the FDA will begin to enforce in May 2017. This blog post provides a summary of the menu labeling rules and the FDA’s industry guidance.

What businesses must comply?

The new menu labeling rules apply to restaurants or similar retail food establishments, such as a bakery, a convenience store selling foods intended for immediate consumption, or a concession stand, that are a part of a chain with 20 or more locations that do business under the same trade name and that offer substantially the same menu items for sale. Additionally, a restaurant or retail food establishment may voluntarily register to be subject to the menu labeling requirements.

What is required of those businesses?

Under the new menu labeling rules, these businesses will be required to include calorie information on menus for all standard menu items. Additionally, these businesses will be required to have written information available upon customer request, regarding nutritional information for standard menu items, including the amount of total calories, calories from fat, total fat, saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, sodium, total carbohydrates, dietary fiber, sugars, and protein. These requirements apply to standard menu items, and do not apply to daily specials, custom orders, alcoholic beverages on display that are not self-service, or temporary menu items that only appear on the menu for less than sixty days per calendar year.

Are alcoholic beverages included?

Yes, the new menu labeling rules apply to alcoholic beverages sold in a restaurant or similar retail food establishment that is required or has registered to comply with the menu labeling rules. The rules apply to all alcoholic beverages that are listed on the establishment’s menu, subject to the exceptions for daily specials, custom orders, alcoholic beverages on display that are not self-service, or temporary menu items that only appear on the menu for less than sixty days per calendar year. The exception for alcoholic beverages on display that are not self-service will be helpful for establishments preparing mixed drinks. If the liquor bottles are on display, and the drinks are not listed on the menu, the establishment will not be required to make available calorie or other nutritional information.

How can calorie and nutrient information for alcoholic beverage products be obtained?

An establishment must have a “reasonable basis” for determining the calorie and other nutritional information for standard menu items. Establishing a “reasonable basis” may include utilizing nutrient databases, published cookbooks that contain nutritional information for recipes in the cookbook, nutrition information determined by laboratory analyses, or any other means that is reasonable. The
U.S. Department of Agriculture (“USDA”) maintains a nutrient database, available here, which the FDA’s guidance refers to as reasonable basis for calorie and nutrient calculations.

How will alcoholic beverage producers be affected?

The new menu labeling regulations will impact all alcoholic beverage producers that sell products to chain establishments with 20 or more locations. Those establishments will likely request that the alcoholic beverage producer provide the calorie and nutritional information for its products sold at the establishment. As most alcoholic beverages are not subject to the FDA rules governing labeling and nutritional information, this law will mainly affect alcoholic beverage producers that do not currently maintain calorie or nutritional information regarding the beverages that they produce. Alcoholic beverage producers should check the USDA database referenced above to see whether their products match entries currently listed in the database, as the database includes entries for several common types of alcoholic beverages. Additionally, the Brewers Association has announced that it will be running laboratory analyses for approximately 100 beer styles over the next year, which the Brewers Association plans to submit for inclusion in the USDA database. Alternatively, producers could submit their products for laboratory analyses in order to obtain accurate nutritional information.

For more information about menu and product labeling requirements, contact one of the attorneys at Strike Kerr & Johns for a consultation.

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