T96-52 Judith Foulke
July 30, 1996 (202) 205-4144
NUTRITION INFORMATION ON RESTAURANT MENUS
The Food and Drug Administration today set standards for the
claims that can be made in restaurant menus for the nutritional
values of individual foods and meals to ensure that consumers get
what they order.
This final rule will mean that if claims like "low fat" or
"heart healthy" are made on a restaurant menu, the restaurant
owner must be able to demonstrate that there is a reasonable
basis for believing that the food qualifies to bear this claim.
The rule allows restaurants considerable flexibility in
establishing this reasonable basis and in presenting the
information to consumers.
This final rule affects only those restaurateurs who place
claims such as "low fat" or "heart healthy" on their menus.
These restaurateurs must be prepared to show officials that their
menu claims are consistent with the claim definitions established
under the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 1990 (NLEA).
Unlike processed foods, restaurant menu selections are not
required to supply complete nutrition information. Also, unlike
processed foods, menu items bearing a claim are not held to the
same strict standards of laboratory analyses. Other more
economical methods can be used to meet the standard. For
example, a restaurant could show that an item was designed to
meet the requirements for the claim because it was prepared using
a recipe from a recognized health professional association or
dietary group, or that the nutritional values for the dish were
calculated using a reliable nutrition data base.
Furthermore, nutrition information can be provided to the
consumer by any reasonable means. It does not have to be
presented in the "Nutrition Facts" format seen on packaged food
labels, nor does it have to appear on the menu. A restaurant,
for example, may compile, in a notebook, information on the fat
content of all menu items that bear fat claims so long as the
nutrition information is available to consumers upon request.
FDA estimates that the rule's flexibility and its limited
scope should minimize its economic impact on the restaurant
industry. To further reduce the possible economic burden on
restaurants, they will be given until May 1997 to come into
compliance with the new regulation.
The new menu rules are identical to the standards that have
been in effect since May 1994 for nutrient content claims on
placards and signs in large and medium-sized restaurants, and
since May 1995 for smaller restaurants.
In fact, restaurateurs seeking guidance for complying with
new menu regulations can consult the sections of FDA's August
1995 guidance on food labeling that deal with claims on
restaurant signs and placards. Copies of this document, "Food
Labeling Questions and Answers, Volume II -- A Guide for
Restaurants and Other Retail Establishments" can be obtained
through the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing
Office, Washington, D.C. 20402, (202) 512-1800.
The U.S. District Court of Washington, D.C. on June 28,
1996, ordered FDA to finalize regulations for restaurant menu
labeling. The court issued its decision in response to a lawsuit
filed by consumer groups seeking to include restaurant menus
under the provisions of NLEA. The Court agreed with the
plaintiff's argument that the NLEA specifically required that
restaurants could only make nutritional and health claims that
were consistent with FDA regulations.
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This is a mirror of the page at http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/ANSWERS/ANS00749.html