The Food and Drug Administration’s “Guidance for Industry: Nutrition Labeling of Standard Menu Items in Restaurants and Similar Retail Food Establishments; Small Entity Compliance Guide” (Guidance for the Industry) serves as an easier-to-understand version of the final menu labeling rules, which were released on Dec. 1, 2014, and is a must-read, step-by-step guide for restaurants affected by the legislation. Healthy Dining’s culinary dietitians are delving into these guidelines to help you better understand the requirements and make sure you are offering accurate nutritional information.
Restaurants with 20 or more locations doing business under the same name and offering for sale substantially the same menu items will soon be required to comply with the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) menu labeling regulations. If you are one of these more than 250,000 restaurant locations nationwide, you are most likely in the process of preparing for the new law in time to meet the Dec. 1, 2015, deadline. That may mean you are in the process of verifying the accuracy of your current nutrition information, which we’ll discuss in the third part of this series, or you may be in the process of completing a full menu analysis from start to finish. Wherever you are in the process, this article will help you:
1. Meet the FDA’s Reasonable Basis Standard
2. Understand the FDA’s requirements for accuracy
3. Prepare substantiation documentation that may be required upon request
What is the Reasonable Basis Standard?
As outlined in the FDA’s recently released menu labeling guidance document and the final rules, restaurants must have a “reasonable basis” for nutrient declarations. In other words, restaurants must meet specific requirements to determine the calorie information listed on menus and menu boards and values for the required additional written nutrition information. According to the FDA’s rules, a reasonable basis for nutrient declarations includes:
• Nutrient databases (with or without computer software programs)
• Cookbooks
• Laboratory analysis
• Other reasonable means, including:
o Nutrition facts on labels on packaged foods that comply with the nutrition labeling requirements
o FDA nutrient values for raw fruits and vegetables
o FDA nutrient values for cooked fish
Healthy Dining dietitian insight
Calculating the nutrient values for restaurant recipes can be a complex process requiring an accurate and detailed recipe and an experienced analyst with food science and dietetics expertise. Analyzing a menu item requires:
• Assessing the accuracy and thoroughness of the recipes to ensure that ingredient amounts and yields are precise, preparation methods are included and all product labels are gathered
• Making various calculations to account for the cooking process itself, such as cooking loss, oil absorption, marinade absorption, evaporation, etc.
• Correcting discrepancies in product information and/or missing values in nutrition databases, such as:
o Missing sugar values in items that contain fruit, dairy, etc.
o Other missing data, such as for trans fat, fiber or any other nutrient
o Missing cholesterol values in menu items that contain meat, cheese and other animal products
o Saturated fat values greater than total fat values
Whatever method your restaurant uses to conduct menu analysis and comply with menu labeling regulations, accuracy and consistency are paramount.
FDA’s requirements for accuracy
According to the FDA’s menu labeling rules, “You must ensure that nutrient declarations for standard menu items are accurate and consistent with the specific basis used to determine nutrient values. You must take reasonable steps to ensure that the method of preparation (e.g., types and amounts of ingredients, cooking temperatures) and amount of a standard menu item offered for sale adhere to the factors on which you determined your nutrient values.” Failure to comply with the rule will render the food misbranded and operators could be subject to civil penalties or other enforcement actions.
In terms of enforcement, the FDA states that they may require, upon request, that restaurants provide information substantiating nutrient values including the method and data used to derive these nutrient values, as well as two statements:
1. A statement signed and dated by a “responsible individual, employed at the covered establishment or its corporate headquarters or parent entity, who can certify that the information contained in the nutrient analysis is complete and accurate.”
2. A statement signed and dated by a responsible individual employed at the covered establishment certifying that the covered establishment has taken reasonable steps to ensure that the method of preparation (e.g., types and amounts of ingredients in the recipe, cooking temperatures, cooking methods) and amount of a standard menu item offered for sale adhere to the factors on which its nutrient values were determined.
Required documentation
Healthy Dining dietitian insight
Accuracy and consistency in menu analysis and recipe preparation are imperative for complying with menu labeling laws. “The standard of accurate nutrition information required by menu labeling regulations can help your restaurant demonstrate leadership and a commitment to the health of your guests while maintaining the consistency and transparency that today’s consumers expect,” says Nicole Ring, R.D., vice president of nutrition strategy at Healthy Dining.
Substantiation documentation required
Depending on how your restaurant chooses to complete menu analysis, certain information and documentation will be required in order to demonstrate the “reasonable basis standard.” This “substantiation documentation” may include such information as the name and version of the nutrient database used; the recipe and its nutrient breakdown; name, author and publisher of the cookbook used; copies of analytical worksheets from the laboratory used; and more. Upon request, a certification by a responsible individual will be required attesting to “reasonable steps,” and in most cases “completeness and accuracy of nutrient analysis.” Find the detailed information on substantiation documentation requirements for your selected method of menu analysis here.
Healthy Dining dietitian insight
The certifications that may be requested by FDA highlight the importance of accuracy in menu analysis, as well as adhering to standardized recipes during preparation. Using accurate standardized recipes to complete nutrition analysis and working with a highly trained professional familiar with culinary nutrition can minimize the risk of inaccurate menu labeling information printed on menus and menu boards.
“The extensive menu labeling legislation and its associated costs may leave restaurants apprehensive about jumping into menu analysis and printing required nutrition information. Working closely with culinary nutrition experts familiar with menu labeling laws can help ease concern and minimize errors,” says Nicole Ring, R.D., vice president of nutrition strategy at Healthy Dining. “Any restaurant nutrition partner your restaurant works with should be ready to stand behind their work so that your guests can put their trust in you.”
Coming up: Nutrition information accuracy checklist
If your restaurant already has nutrition information, it’s essential now to verify its accuracy. Healthy Dining’s culinary dietitians will walk you through how to determine the accuracy of your nutrition information before publishing for guests.
Healthy Dining will be providing step-by-step guidance on how to comply with the menu labeling rules. For more information, contact [email protected], and Healthy Dining’s team of registered dietitians.
Anita Jones-Mueller, MPH, is president of Healthy Dining. With 25 years of nutrition expertise in the restaurant industry and hundreds of thousands of restaurant recipes analyzed, Healthy Dining is the most experienced restaurant nutrition services provider in the world. Healthy Dining’s team of registered dietitians supports thousands of restaurants in meeting the expanding nutrition needs of their guests and helps them comply with the new FDA menu-labeling regulations. Most of Healthy Dining’s clients are featured on HealthyDiningFinder.com. The National Restaurant Association has named Healthy Dining as its exclusive nutrition partner for the industry. Additionally, Healthy Dining has been selected by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to implement a variety of restaurant nutrition-related research projects through the Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) Program.
This article has been reviewed by the FDA and updated according to the FDA’s comments.
Disclaimer: Menu labeling compliance information provided by Healthy Dining should not be construed as legal advice. Our team of registered dietitians and other personnel have reviewed the menu labeling regulations promulgated by the FDA in detail and communicate regularly with the FDA to clarify, ask questions and receive guidance. However, the information Healthy Dining provides has not been drafted or reviewed by an attorney and should not be viewed as legal advice. It is also important to note that the advice Healthy Dining receives from the FDA in conversations or which was provided by the FDA in the Guidance for Industry document released in March 2015 is nonbinding on the FDA, which expressly reserves the right to change its thinking on various matters.