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FSSAI issues guidance note on display of info and menu labelling.
Mar 24, 2022

The apex food authority has issued a guidance note on display of information in food service establishments and menu labelling. The note explains all relevant regulations and requisites to be followed by the establishment, mandatory and voluntary. And the note also describes the methods to determine nutritive value of the food items.

'Calorie and nutrition information for all food items/meal/platter/portion-wise being prepared and sold by the food businesses covered under the ambit of the display regulations, should be calculated,' reads the note.

The note also prescribes a formula to calculate nutrition content of a non- standardised recipe based on individual ingredients and energy conversion factors of protein, fat, available carbohydrate and fibre.

The calculation can be based on laboratory testing and a nutrient analysis method, and nutritive/ calorific values of each of the ingredient used to prepare a dish provided by credible scientific source.

Sub-Regulation 2.4.6 of Food Safety and Standards (Packaging and Labelling) First Amendment Regulations, 2020 dated August 21, 2020, specifies the requirements for ‘Display of information in Food Service Establishments’ with effect from January 1, 2022. FSSAI issued directions dated 28.12.2021 under Section 16(5) of the FSS Act vide which it has been conveyed to all the Food Safety Commissioners and Central Licensing Authorities that samples of the food items listed on the menu cards/boards/booklets by the FBOs shall not be taken up to check/verify the respective declarations of calorific value and nutritional information till June 30, 2022, in order to grant additional time to the FBOs to adopt the practice of Menu Labelling in a self-compliant manner.

According to the regulation, Calorific value or energy (in kcal per serving and serving size) against the food items needs to be displayed, adjacent to its name or price. The note says that deviation of 25 per cent in case of calorific value is tolerable. Also, the allergen information needs to be placed in the menu and veg or non-veg logo.

The concerned FBO is also required to give information about specific ingredients like MSG, Artificial Sweeteners, Caffeine, polyols, polydextrose etc. with declaration about their properties and information related to organic food, if claimed.

The note also explained sample menu displays.

The food service establishments include all five star hotels (Central licences); one/two/three/four star hotels with state licence but having outlets at 10 or more locations; restaurants having Central licence; restaurants/clubs/canteens with state licences having outlets at 10 or more locations; flight/railway caterers having Central licence; departmental canteens at the premises of Central government institutions; cloud kitchens/dhabas with state licences having outlets at 10 or more locations; e-commerce FBOs selling food products of those FBOs mandated for declaration under menu labelling for such foods.

However, event caterers and food service premises that operate for less than 60 days in a calendar year (consecutively or non-consecutively) are exempted from the scope of these regulations.

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