NEWS
06/10/1993

<TITLE>FDA Proposes to Require Restaurant Menus Contain Health Claims</TITLE>
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P93-23                               Food and Drug Administration
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                Brad Stone (202) 205-4144

     The Food and Drug Administration today proposed to require
restaurant menus that contain health claims or nutrient content
claims to meet some of the same nutrition labeling requirements as
food sold in grocery stores.  
     "If you tell people that something is good for them, there
should be a reasonable basis," said FDA Commissioner David A.
Kessler, M.D.  "Meals eaten out count just as much toward healthy
eating as the meals we eat at home and claims on menus should have
that reasonable basis."
     The proposal would require restaurant menus that contain
nutrient content or health claims to provide a reasonable basis for
making the claims.  However, FDA's regulations would provide
flexibility in deciding what constitutes a reasonable basis.  For
example, a restaurant could satisfy this requirement by using
recipes designed by recognized medical or dietary groups to promote
better nutrition or health.
     The standards that would be established for menus under the
proposed regulatory change would be the same as those set under the 
existing Nutrition Labeling and Education Act regulations for
restaurant signs or placards containing nutritional or health
claims.  Restaurant menus, placards or signs not containing-MORE-
                            
                                 Page 2, P93-23, Menu Labeling
nutritional content or health claims would not be subject to NLEA 
requirements, either under the existing regulations or the proposed
change.
     FDA had exempted restaurant menus from NLEA requirements but
has reconsidered in response to public comments.  The agency has
determined that the costs would be minimal for individual
restaurants and the industry as a whole, especially since only
menus containing nutritional content or health claims would be
affected.
     FDA estimates that the total industry-wide cost of bringing
menus into compliance with the proposed rule would range from $1
million to $13.5 million, depending on how many restaurants chose
to make claims on their menus.  As many as 12,000 restaurants, FDA
estimates, may choose to alter their menus to meet the NLEA
requirements.  Restaurants would have up to 12 months after the
publication of a final rule in the Federal Register to bring their
menus into compliance.
     FDA is asking for comments on the proposed regulation, which
will be published in the Federal Register on June 15.  Comments
should be submitted, within 60 days of the publication date, to:
Dockets Management Branch (HFA-305), Food and Drug Administration,
Room 1-23, 12420 Parklawn Drive, Rockville, Md. 20857.
     FDA is an agency of the U.S. Public Health Service within HHS.
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