Packaged food vs restaurant food labeling in the US

The short answer

Restaurant food served for immediate consumption does not carry an FDA packaged-food label. The same kitchen’s sealed grab-and-go boxes, shipped meal kits and grocery SKUs usually do. Menu-labeling calories (20 or more locations) is a third regime. Most arguments in bakeries are about which of the three a given item is.

Where this shows up in a real kitchen

A croissant handed over from a display case with tongs is restaurant-style. A croissant in a sealed bag in a fridge with a price is packaged food. Chains with 20+ locations also post calories on menus. None of those regimes is Natasha’s Law, even if the croissant recipe is identical to a London shop.

The US rule

FDA packaged-food labeling (Part 101 + FALCPA) applies to food in a container that the customer does not inspect as restaurant service. Menu labeling under the ACA applies to covered chains. State and local codes still require allergen information to be available in restaurants even when there is no pack label. USDA may own the frozen retail meal.

How to apply it

Walk the counter at 7:30am. Everything already in a sealed pack needs packaged-food particulars. Everything assembled to order needs staff who can name major allergens, not a fake Nutrition Facts sticker. If you later put yesterday’s muffins in branded bags for a fridge, you crossed into packaged food overnight.

1. Photograph the counter and mark sealed vs open vs made-to-order.
2. Apply packaged-food labels only to the sealed SKUs.
3. Train staff on major allergens for plated and open items.
4. If you are a covered chain, run menu calories as their own project.

Worked example

A Chicago coffee shop: espresso drinks — no pack label. Banana bread under a dome, sliced to order — no FALCPA pack. Banana bread slices pre-wrapped at 6am — packaged food with wheat, egg, milk named. Frozen banana-bread loaves sold through a grocer — full FDA retail set including Nutrition Facts unless an exemption fits.

Sticking a UK PPDS label on a US café fridge item and calling it done

The fridge item may need net quantity and manufacturer details as well as allergens. It may also need Nutrition Facts. PPDS is the wrong template.

Questions