Contains Nonbinding Recommendations 
Draft-Not for Implementation 
   
 
Menu Labeling: 
Supplemental Guidance for Industry 
(Edition 2) 
 
 
Draft Guidance 
This guidance is being distributed for comment purposes only. 
 
 
 
 
Although you can comment on any guidance at any time (see 21 CFR 10.115(g)(5)), to ensure 
that FDA considers your comment on this draft guidance before we begin work on the final 
version of the guidance, submit either electronic or written comment on the draft guidance within 
90 days of publication in the Federal Register of the notice announcing the availability of the 
draft guidance.  Submit electronic comments to http://www.regulations.gov.  Submit written 
comments to the Dockets Management Staff (HFA-305), Food and Drug Administration, 5630 
Fishers Lane, Rm. 1061, Rockville, MD 20852.  All comments should be identified with the 
docket number FDA-2011-F-0172 listed in the notice of availability that publishes in the Federal 
Register. 
 
For questions regarding this draft document contact the Center for Food Safety and Applied 
Nutrition (CFSAN) at 240-402-2372. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 
Food and Drug Administration 
Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition 
December 2023 
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  Contains Nonbinding Recommendations 
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Table of Contents 
 
1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 3 
2. Background ............................................................................................................................... 4 
5. Methods for Providing Calorie Disclosure Information ....................................................... 4 
7. Determining Nutrient Content for Standard Menu Items .................................................... 5 
 
   
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Menu Labeling: 
Supplemental Guidance for Industry1 
(Edition 2) 
 
This draft guidance, when finalized, will represent the current thinking of the Food and Drug 
Administration (FDA or we) on this topic.  It does not establish any rights for any person and is 
not binding on FDA or the public.  You can use an alternative approach if it satisfies the 
requirements of the applicable statutes and regulations.  To discuss an alternative approach, 
contact the FDA staff responsible for this guidance as listed on the title page. 
 
1. Introduction 
This guidance document addresses stakeholder questions regarding the implementation of 
nutrition labeling required for foods sold in covered establishments,2 including examples of 
alternatives to aid in compliance.  We are proposing to update this guidance document to include 
new questions and answers regarding voluntarily declaring added sugars as part of the additional 
written nutrition information for standard menu items provided to a customer upon request and 
voluntarily providing nutrition information consistent with the menu labeling requirements 
through third-party platforms. 
 
This is a revision of the first edition of the guidance document entitled, Menu Labeling: 
Supplemental Guidance for Industry.  FDA is adding new Questions and Answers 5.8 and 7.5 to 
this guidance in response to frequently asked questions regarding the menu labeling 
requirements.  Specifically, to support further alignment with the final rule, Food Labeling: 
Revision of the Nutrition and Supplement Facts Labels, we address the voluntary declaration of 
added sugars as part of the additional written nutrition information under 21 CFR 
101.11(b)(2)(ii)(A).  Additionally, we discuss the voluntary use of the menu labeling 
requirements to help consumers make informed and healthful decisions when ordering their 
meals online using a third-party platform.  FDA expects to continue to issue subsequent editions 
of this guidance document, as appropriate, by revising existing questions and answers and by 
adding new questions and answers. 
 
FDAs guidance documents, including this guidance, do not establish legally enforceable 
 
1 This guidance has been prepared by the Office of Nutrition and Food Labeling in the Center for Food Safety and 
Applied Nutrition at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. 
2 21 CFR 101.11(a) defines covered establishment as a restaurant or similar retail food establishment that is a part 
of a chain with 20 or more locations doing business under the same name (regardless of the type of ownership, e.g., 
individual franchises) and offering for sale substantially the same menu items, as well as a restaurant or similar retail 
food establishment that voluntarily registers with FDA to be covered by the federal menu labeling requirements.  
See generally 21 U.S.C. 343(q)(5)(H)(i). 
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responsibilities.  Instead, guidances describe our current thinking on a topic and should be 
viewed only as recommendations, unless specific regulatory or statutory requirements are cited.  
The use of the word should in FDA guidances means that something is suggested or 
recommended, but not required. 
 
2. Background 
On December 1, 2014, we published a final rule in the Federal Register (79 FR 71156) on 
nutrition labeling of standard menu items in restaurants and similar retail food establishments to 
implement the menu labeling provisions of section 403(q)(5)(H) of the Federal Food, Drug, and 
Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act).  The menu labeling requirements are codified at Title 21 of the Code 
of Federal Regulations, section 101.11 (21 CFR 101.11).  Before these requirements, consumers 
could find nutrition information on most packaged foods; however, this labeling was not 
generally and consistently available in restaurants and similar retail food establishments that 
serve ready-to-eat, prepared food.  Providing calorie and other nutrition information for ready-to- 
eat prepared foods in restaurants and similar retail food establishments helps enable consumers to 
make informed and healthful dietary choices. 
 
5. Methods for Providing Calorie Disclosure Information 
 
5.8 I am a covered establishment that uses third-party platforms (TPPs), such as third-
party online ordering websites and delivery applications.  Can I choose to provide 
nutrition information for standard menu items ordered through a TPP? 
 
Answer:  Yes. Calorie labeling on menus for standard menu items can help consumers make 
informed and healthful decisions about meals and snacks when eating out.  We recognize that 
using TPPs for online food ordering has increased since the menu labeling requirements were 
finalized, and we encourage covered establishments to provide important nutrition information 
for the standard menu items offered on a TPP, especially for chains that already provide this 
information on their own websites and for which this information is readily available.  
Providing nutrition information for standard menu items on TPPs would help ensure consumers 
have greater access to information to identify healthier choices. 
 
Covered establishments offering online ordering directly through their websites are subject to 
our menu labeling requirements, including providing calorie declarations for standard menu 
items on their online menus (21 CFR 101.11(b)(2)(i)(A)). 
   
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7. Determining Nutrient Content for Standard Menu Items 
 
7.5 Added sugars is a required nutrient in the Nutrition Facts label for packaged foods (21 
CFR 101.9) but it is not required nutrition information under the menu labeling 
requirements (21 CFR 101.11(b)(2)(ii)).  Can I choose to declare added sugars as part of 
my additional written nutrition information for standard menu items? 
 
Answer:  Yes, you may voluntarily provide the gram amount of added sugars for standard 
menu items.  When we issued the final menu labeling rule in 2014, the additional written 
nutrition information required for standard menu items was aligned with the nutrition 
information required in the Nutrition Facts label regulations at that time, except for most 
vitamins and minerals.  However, when we amended the Nutrition Facts label regulations in 
2016 to include, in part, added sugars as a required nutrient, we did not update the menu 
labeling regulations at the same time (see 21 CFR 101.9(c)(6)(iii)). 
 
The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends limiting calories from added sugars to less 
than 10 percent of total calories per day.  Consuming too much added sugars can make it 
difficult to meet nutrient needs while staying within calorie limits.  Including the amount of 
added sugars for standard menu items could help consumers meet current dietary 
recommendations.  Therefore, we encourage covered establishments to voluntarily disclose the 
gram amount of added sugars for standard menu items as part of their written nutrition 
information to help consumers make more informed dietary choices. 
 
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