Restaurants required to include nutritional labeling on their menus

Small-to-medium sized businesses working within the food industry would be wise to have attractive food labels on their products that include nutritional information. Those working within the restaurant sector should also be updating their menus and meals to have a greater focus on the healthy aspects of their produce and cooking processes.

The United States Office of Management and Budget has given the Food and Drug Administration a deadline of April 2013 to require nutritional labeling on menus, according to the blog Greener Ideas. This particular provision is actually part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which was signed into law in 2010.

“This announcement has been looming on the horizon for the last few years, and we understand that many in the restaurant industry have been hesitating to start labeling their menu items until they were sure there would be no further changes or in case the rule would be repealed,” ABC Research Laboratories’ chief scientific officer Dr. Gillian Dagan, said in a company blog. “The announcement of this date means it is time to wake up, smell the coffee, and start preparing your menu items for nutritional labeling.”

Restaurant owners are advised to begin updating their menus and the meals they serve, as consumers are more interested in having a healthy diet than ever before. CNN reported that a number of dishes were named “Xtreme Eating dis-honorees” on a list provided by the Center for Science in the Public Interest. These dishes were high in calories, saturated fat and sugar or salt.

Those working within the retail food industry would be wise to incorporate custom food labels onto their products before sale as well as include nutritional information on their menus. By investing in a Primera LX900 color label printer, such businesses are able to keep customers coming back.