Hold That Thought. FDA Delays Menu Labeling Requirements.

On March 9, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a statement announcing the delay of the menu labeling requirement. Formerly set for December 1, 2016, chain restaurants now have more time to include calorie content on menus and nutritional analysis upon request for customers. From the statement:

“As a result of language in the omnibus appropriations bill enacted December 18, 2015 (Public Law 114-113 Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016), FDA is delaying enforcement from December 1, 2016, to the date that is one year after it issues final, Level 1 guidance on menu labeling. The draft Level 1 guidance was issued on Sept. 11, 2015, and FDA is considering all comments received and will issue the final guidance as soon as possible.”

This is not the first time the FDA has delayed the menu labeling requirement, and it’s possible it will be delayed again. However, we believe in the near future it WILL take effect, and that is why we added nutritional analysis and recipe redevelopment to our list of services at FDR.

Contact us to learn more or to get ahead of the game. While you now have more time to work toward compliance, it is still a two- to six-month process to analyze recipes and redevelop recipes to meet nutritional expectations.