What You Need to Know About New FDA Menu Calories Legislation
The Situation
Starting in 2017, new legislation from the FDA will be enacted with the goal of making nutritional information more readily available for restaurant guests so they can make more informed dietary choices. It may be surprising to many people, but most spend almost half of their food dollars eating out. It’s easy to underestimate calories in foods that are prepared away from home, so these new regulations aim to help guests understand the total calories they’re consuming when enjoying a meal out.
Does It Apply to You?
If you own or operate 20 or more units, you’ll have to comply with the law, but even if you’re smaller than that, you have the choice to opt in. While it might sound a lot easier to simply opt out, keep in mind guests are looking for transparency when it comes to their dining options. Health sells. Research shows restaurants with more lower calorie servings saw a 10.9% increase in total traffic count and a 10% increase in sales.1
What You’ll Need to Do
The new legislation focuses on calories so you’ll need to make sure that information is displayed clearly and prominently on menus, menu boards, drive-through displays, self-service areas and buffet and cafeteria lines. Other nutritional information must be available in writing such as calories from fat, total fat, saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, sodium, total carbohydrates, sugars, dietary fiber and protein.
You’ll need to communicate to your guests that “additional nutrition information is available upon request.” You’ll also have to include the statement, “2000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice, but calorie needs vary.” You can find the full set of regulations and other guidance on the FDA site.
There Are Exceptions
Gathering all that data and figuring out how to best display it can seem like a huge pain, however there are some exceptions. Exclusions include:
- General-use condiments (e.g., tabletop condiments such as mayo, mustard, ketchup, sugar, jelly etc.)
- Custom orders
- Daily specials or temporary/seasonal items
- Test-market items
How to Get Started
The first step will be to calculate nutritional information for your menu. This process can sound overwhelming, but you can use the resources and data you may already have available. The FDA states your results can be based on information obtained from nutrient databases, cookbooks, laboratory analyses, the Nutrition Facts label, and other reasonable means. Calories should be listed per serving.2
To help share the load of taking the steps to compliance, work with your distributors to identify accurate ingredients, especially if you’re wanting to create gluten-free or allergen-sensitive dishes.
We know government regulation in your restaurant can feel extremely intrusive, but with the right perspective and execution, you can use the FDA rules as a new opportunity to better serve your customers—and make more money.
1 Hudson Institute, Lower-Calorie Foods It’s Just Good Business, February 2013
2 FDA.gov, "Questions and Answers on the Menu and Vending Machines Nutrition Labeling Requirements".
