Menu Calorie Labeling & New
Requirements for Supermarkets
Speakers
Monica Amburn, RD, LDN is
a registered
dietitian/nutritionist with a
passion for creative wellness
education and
communications. Monica’s
experience in clinical
nutrition, weight loss
counseling, and as a
corporate supermarket
dietitian has allowed her the
privilege of leading thousands
of people towards healthier
lifestyles and personal goal
achievements. Monica is the
Senior Director of Health &
Wellness with Vestcom
International, the leading
provider of shelf-edge
nutrition communication
solutions to thousands of
supermarkets nationwide.
Patty Packard, MS, RD is the
Director of Nutrition &
Regulatory for healthyAisles®
and vitaAisles® at Vestcom
International, the largest
provider of FDA/USDA-based
shelf-edge nutrition claims to
the supermarket industry. Patty
is a registered dietitian with
over 15 years of extensive
regulatory nutrition experience
in the food industry. In her prior
role as Director of Nutrition at
ConAgra Foods as well as in
her current position, Patty has
been a frequent speaker and
contributor to regulatory issues
at national meetings,
presented oral comments to
FDA, co-chaired the National
Nutrient Database meeting in
2011, and has co-authored
over 10 publications.
Outline of presentation
• Overview of the new FDA regulation
• Acceptable methods for determining calorie
values
• Required documentation for FDA compliance
• Integrating menu labeling into your wellness
platform
Confidential and proprietary © 2015 Vestcom
What does this new regulation mean for your
retailer?
• The standard reaction:
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Nutrition Labeling Compliance with
the Affordable Care Act 101.11(a)
• Requires restaurants and similar retail food establishments with 20 or
more locations under the same name, that offer similar menu offerings,
to offer nutrition information by December 1, 2015.
• The definition of a restaurant–type food means that the food is either:
– Eaten on the premises, while walking away, or shortly after arriving at a
location
• The nutrition information is required on standard menu items, including
self-service items and foods on display.
https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2014/12/01/2014-27833/food-labelingnutrition-labeling-of-standard-menu-items-in-restaurants-and-similar-retailfood#h-49
Foods Required to be Labeled
• Hot buffet food, such as hot soup & food from a salad bar
• Self-service foods that are intended for individual
consumption:
•
Wraps, sandwiches, panini's at a deli counter, pizza by the slice,
bagels, donuts, muffins and rolls offered for individual sale.
Definition of Foods that Require Labeling
•
The definition of “Self-Serve Food” includes restaurant-type food that
is served by the customers themselves, hot food bar, soup bar, etc.
•
The definition of “Foods on Display” includes restaurant-type food that
is visible to the customer before the customer makes a selection.
Examples include: donuts, pastries, ice cream, etc. any item that is in
a case and are served by an employee.
•
For foods that are self-serve, calories are based either on
 Per food item – slice of pizza, per cookie, per doughnut, per muffin, etc.
 Per serving unit – when food is scooped from a standard size, calories can
be listed as “per scoop” of ice cream
 Per household measure – on a salad bar, 1 Tbsp. of dressing, 1 cup of
lettuce, 1 cup of soup, ½ cup of pasta salad, etc.
Foods Not Required to be Labeled
• Foods to be eaten over several occasions:
•
Ex: A whole cake, a bag of cookies, or a loaf of bread
• Foods that are usually further prepared after purchase:
•
Ex: Deli meats & cheeses
• Foods sold by weight:
•
Ex: Potato salad or chicken salad
• Certain foods bought from bulk bins:
•
Ex: Dried fruit & nuts
Foods Not Required to be Labeled
• Condiments, such as ketchup on a table
• Daily specials
• Custom orders
• Foods that are part of a test market
• Temporary menu items, such as seasonal items offered
for sale less than 60 days per year or fewer than 90
consecutive days
What is a “Custom” Order?
• An item is considered to be “custom” when it deviates from
the “standard menu item”.
– Example: Meat lovers pizza has beef, sausage & pepperoni. The
customer says “Hold the pepperoni.” You don’t have to have the
calories available for the meat lovers pizza minus the pepperoni.
• However, if your standard item is pizza and you pick the
three toppings, then you must have calories for all three
toppings available.
Acceptable Methods for Determining Calories
According to this ruling, calories and nutritional values can
be determined using any of the following methods:
•
Laboratory Analysis
Nutrition Fact Panels (as provided by vendors/manufacturers)
FDA nutrient values for raw fruits & vegetables
•
•
•
•
FDA nutrient values for cooked fish
•
•
•
Appendix C of part 101
Appendix D
USDA nutrient database
Cookbooks
Calorie Declarations
Calories declarations will be allowed per discrete unit and
per serving such as:
• Calories in a total pizza, plus calories in each slice of
pizza (pizza pie: 200 cal/slice, 8 slices; breadsticks:
150cal/stick, 5 sticks)
• If there are multiple sizes of a product (small, medium, or
large fries), calorie counts must be present for all sizes.
• For fountain drinks, you must list size and fluid ounces,
“140 calories per 12 fluid ounces (small)”
Documentation: Location of Calorie Postings
Covered establishments are permitted to declare calories
either:
•
•
•
•
On a printed menu
On signs adjacent to the food
On a sign attached to a sneeze guard
On a single sign or place card
The following statement must also be on all forms of menus
or menu boards:
– “Additional nutrition information available upon request”.
Documentation: Additional information required
• “Additional nutrition information available upon request”
• Nutrients required to be available include:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Total calories
Calories from fat
Total fat
Saturated fat
Trans fat
Cholesterol
Sodium
Total carbohydrate
Dietary fiber
Sugars
Protein
Additional Statements Required
The following statement is required to enable consumers to understand
the context of calories in the daily diet:
• “A 2,000 calories a day is used as the basis for general nutrition
advice; but calorie needs vary”
For a children’s menu, there is the option of using one of the following
calorie statements:
• “1,200 to 1,400 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice for
children ages 4 to 8 years, but calorie needs vary”.
or
• “1,200 to 1,400 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice for
children ages 4 to 8 years and 1,400 to 2,000 calories a day for
children 9 to 13 years, but calorie needs vary”.
Documentation: Format for Listing of Calories
•
The number of calories must be listed adjacent to the name or the
price of the associated standard menu item, in a type/font size no
smaller than the size of the price of the associated standard menu
item.
•
The term “Calories” or “Cal” must appear as a heading above a
column listing the number of calories on a menu board.
•
The calories must be declared to the nearest 5- calorie increment up
to and including 50 calories and to the nearest 10-calorie increment
above 50 calories. Amounts less than 5 calories may be expressed as
zero (0).
•
Calories greater then 999, require using a comma = 1,000
Declaring Calories of Combination Foods
•
Entrée with two side options: Sandwich with a side salad or chips
(ex: 350/450 calories)
•
Entrée with three side options, use a calorie range:
•
Ex: Sandwich with chips, a side salad or fruit (350-500 calories)
Standard entrée menu items will be declared with a total calorie
declaration:
•
•
Ex: Pancakes with eggs, bacon, pancake syrup and butter (1,000 calories)
In a mix and match situation such as “Combine any sandwich with any
soup or salad for $8.99”:
•
•
If the calories are all listed separately for all items on the menu, then it is not
necessary to have a range of calories for all options.
Documentation: FDA Expectations
• All retail establishments must ensure that its nutrition labeling is
truthful and not misleading and that it has a “reasonable basis” for its
nutrient content disclosures.
• To ensure “reasonable basis”, FDA expects retailers to maintain
documentation of the methodology used to determine nutrient
content, as well as the recipe and ingredient information for each
item. The FDA can ask a retailer to provide this information at any
time in order to demonstrate compliance.
• Also, if any nutrition claims are made on a retail product, then the
entire nutrition facts panel will be required at point of sale.
Incorporating Menu Labeling into
Your Wellness Platform
Preparation & Reputation is everything
Avoid bad press – get it right the first time
Confidential and proprietary © 2015 Vestcom
You’re retailer is ready – now what?
Required In-Store Elements
Marketing Elements
• Menu Calorie Statements
• Essentially, tell your
• Pamphlets or other readily-
available resources that list
full nutrition information by
item
• Calorie statements at point
of purchase if no menu
(salad bar items, etc)
shoppers how awesome
you are!
– Update wellness program
materials to reflect how your
retailer is listing calories in
store
– Provide calorie information on
website
– Incorporate into social media
– Leverage circular, in-store
radio
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Partner with Merchandising & Marketing
• Whether at corporate level, or store-level,
opportunities exist
• Signage, one-day events, demos
• Examples:
– Once you have an analysis of all prepared foods, group
foods by calorie level for promotions and education
– “5 Sandwiches under 500 calories”
– “Smart Salad Toppings – 25 calories or less per serving”
– Lunch or Dinner combo ideas – “600 calories or less per
meal - pick these 3 items (ex: sandwich, salad, fruit)
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Connect with the community
• The general public knows this is a regulation for
restaurants, but it is questionable how well they
understand the impact to retailers
• Partner with PR, media, social media to tell your
community how you are meeting this new
requirement, but also distinguish how you are
taking it to the next level
• Opportunity to incorporate into kids programs,
field trips
• Be creative!
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Vestcom can help with your efforts
• healthyAisles has a solution to help retailers meet
December 1, 2015 deadline for Menu Calorie
Labeling requirements
• We cover all facets:
– Recipe nutrient analysis
– database management, data warehousing
– tags
– signs
– healthyAisles database & attributes
• Contact Monica for more details
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Bring on the questions!
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THANK YOU!
Monica Amburn, RD, LDN
Sr Director Health & Wellness
mamburn@Vestcom.com
Patty Packard, MS, RD
Director of Regulatory Nutrition
ppackard@Vestcom.com