§ 81.50 Posting of Calorie Information.
RCNY § 81.50
(a)Definitions. When used in this section the following words and terms have the following meanings: (1) Combination meal means a standard menu item that consists of more than one food item. A combination meal may be represented on the menu or menu board in narrative form, numerically, or pictorially. Some combination meals may be a variable menu item where the components may vary and the customer selects which components will be included in the meal. Some combination meals may include a variable menu item as a part of the meal. A combination meal shall not mean a special price offer to a customer to combine standard menu items for which calorie information is already posted on the menu or menu board.
(2)Covered establishment means a food service establishment or similar retail food establishment that is part of a chain with 15 or more locations nationally doing business under the same name and offering for sale substantially the same menu items, or a food service establishment or similar establishment that is not part of such a chain that voluntarily registers with the United States Food and Drug Administration to be subject to the federal requirements for nutrition labeling of standard menu items pursuant to 21 C.F.R. § 101.11(d), or successor regulation.
(3)Custom order means a food order prepared in a specific manner in response to an individual customer's request, which requires the covered establishment to deviate from its usual preparation of a standard menu item.
(4)Daily special means a food item prepared and offered for sale on a particular day that is not routinely listed on a menu or menu board, or other offer and that is promoted by the covered establishment as a special item for that day.
(5)Food on display means restaurant-type food that is visible to the customer before the customer makes a selection, so long as there is not an expectation of further preparation by the customer before consumption.
(6)Food that is part of a customary market test means food that appears on a menu or menu board for less than 90 consecutive days to test customer acceptance of the food.
(7)Menu or menu board means a printed list of the names or images of a food item or items and the prices of such items, that is the primary writing of a covered establishment from which a customer makes an order selection. Menus include breakfast, lunch, and dinner menus; dessert menus; beverage menus; children's menus; other specialty menus; electronic menus; and menus on the internet, and may be in various forms, including booklets, pamphlets, single sheets of paper, or electronic screens. Determining whether a writing is or is part of the primary writing of a covered establishment depends on a number of factors, including whether the writing lists the name of a standard menu item (or an image depicting the standard menu item) and the price of the standard menu item, and whether the writing can be used by a customer to make an order selection at the time the customer is viewing the writing. Menu boards include menu boards inside the establishment as well as drive-through menu boards outside the establishment.
(8)Offering for sale substantially the same menu items means offering for sale a significant proportion of menu items that use the same general recipe and are prepared in substantially the same way with substantially the same food components.
(9)Similar retail food establishment means an establishment such as a convenience store, grocery or supermarket that serves restaurant-type food.
(10)Restaurant-type food means food that is (i) usually eaten on the premises of or while walking away from a food service establishment, or soon after arriving at another location, or (ii) processed and prepared primarily in a similar retail establishment and offered for sale to customers for either immediate or later consumption in or outside such establishment.
(11)Self-service food means restaurant-type food that is available at a salad bar, buffet line, cafeteria or similar self-service facility that is served by customers themselves and includes self-service beverages.
(12)Standard beverage fill means the fixed amount of a beverage that is less than the full volume of the cup holding the beverage per cup size.
(13)Standard ice fill means the fixed amount of ice in a cup of a beverage per cup size.
(14)Standard menu item means any individual food item or combination of food items listed or displayed on a menu or menu board that is sold by a covered establishment.
(15)Temporary menu item means a food item that appears on a menu or menu board for less than a total of 60 consecutive and non-consecutive days during a calendar year (16) Variable menu item means a standard menu item that comes in different flavors, varieties or combinations and is listed as a single menu item.
(b)Scope and applicability. This section applies to standard menu items offered for sale in covered establishments and does not apply to condiments, daily specials, temporary menu items, custom orders, foods that are part of a customary market test or temporary menu items, or to any menu or menu board in a school that is for students in grades 12 or under.
(c)Posting calorie information.
(1)Number of calories. Menus and menu boards must provide the number of calories contained in each standard menu item. Information must be posted for each item as it is usually prepared and offered for sale. For multiple-serving standard menu items, calorie information must be posted either (i) for the standard menu item as listed, or (ii) for a discrete serving unit provided that the total number of discrete serving units contained in such item is also posted.
(d)Required nutritional information statements.
(g)Severability. If any provision of this section, or its application to any person or circumstance, is held invalid by any court of competent jurisdiction, the remaining provisions or the application of the section to other persons or circumstances shall not be affected.
(h)Effective date. This section takes effect December 1, 2016. (Amended City Record 9/16/2015, eff. 12/1/2016)
