Menu Labeling Guide: How to Craft a Perfect Menu for Your Customers

If you’re in the restaurant or food service industry, you’re probably aware that menu labeling is a popular topic with growing interest from customers and governing agencies.

But what exactly is menu labeling, and do you need to do it? What’s in it for you and how can you do it without spending much time and resources? We answer all of these questions and more below.

What is Menu Labeling?

Menu labeling refers to listing all the nutritional information of your menu items, including calories, fat, proteins, and so on.

That way, you give customers a clear look at what they’re ordering so they can make an informed decision. Menu labeling can also help people with allergies or specific dietary needs avoid the ingredients that they can’t have.

What Are the Benefits of Menu Labeling for Restaurants?

Informed customers = happier customers

So, why should restaurants post calories on menus? Firstly, because it improves the customer experience.

Customers are able to see ingredients, calories, allergens, and other relevant information at a glance. This means they won’t have to ask a server to learn more.

An informed customer is a happy customer that will keep coming to your restaurant again and again.

Keep customers safe

Your customer’s safety should be a top priority. That’s why menu labeling requirements are in place – to protect the consumer.

You don’t want to risk someone getting sick or having an allergic reaction because they ingested an ingredient that you didn’t disclose.

Not to mention that could also leave you vulnerable to lawsuits and could potentially shut down your restaurant for good.

Increase transparency and confidence in your restaurant brand

Restaurant menu labeling makes customers feel confident in the brand they’re supporting. With all the information upfront, there are no secrets or surprises.

News about a restaurant that cares about transparency will spread like wildfire, giving you a constant stream of customers who want to know what they’re eating.

Cater to a larger audience

Having ingredients and calories displayed on menus gives restaurants a competitive edge, unlocking a new audience of people who might otherwise avoid your restaurant and go to the competition.

Something as simple as optimizing your menu with nutritional information and allergens can contribute to your restaurant’s long-term growth.

Help support different food choices and diets

Finally, labeling food in restaurants shows customers that you care about their dietary needs and restrictions.

Food allergies have increased by 50% since the 90s, and more and more people are trying a variety of diets. Not catering to these people as a restaurant owner is like throwing money out the window.

Menu Labeling Laws by State

In the U.S., the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) is in charge of menu labeling laws and requirements.

The latest FDA menu labeling requirements state that restaurants and other retail food establishments have to provide calorie and nutrition information for their standard menu items if that are part of a chain of 20 or more locations.

Upon request, these businesses must also provide information like total fat, saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, total carbohydrates, fiber, sugars, protein, and sodium.

Here’s the good news: FDA menu labeling requirements for restaurants apply across the U.S., so there’s no need to search on a state-by-state basis.

They also provide an FDA menu labeling training module that you can access here for free.

How to Easily Do Calorie Labeling on Menus

To quickly and easily fill in calorie information for each menu item, you need a powerful menu builder that allows you to make changes on the spot and use your online menu for dine-in ordering too.

That way, you don’t have to reprint the menus every time you make a change. You can use the same menu for online ordering and restaurant ordering.

Using GloriaFood’s menu builder, you can add a variety of nutrition facts for restaurant menus, including calories, fat, sodium, and more.

If you can’t find the desired nutritional information in the list provided, you can also add your own so that your menu looks exactly how you want it to.

This is how your customers will see the information in your online menu, whether they choose to order online for pickup or delivery or scan your QR code to place an order in the restaurant.

How to Improve Your Menu Labeling Policy with Allergen Information

To increase menu labeling effectiveness, don’t just limit yourself to nutritional information. List the ingredients that go into making each menu item, as well as the allergens.

Navigate to your GloriaFood menu builder and fill in the ingredients:

Then mark the allergens:

Your customers will be able to spot the information at the bottom of each menu item they select:

How to Craft the Perfect Restaurant Menu

To get started creating your online menu with GloriaFood, check out the video tutorial below:

After adding the categories and dishes you want, you can customize each menu item with choices and add-ons and add nutritional and allergen information to ensure you follow FDA restaurant menu labeling.

Wrap up

Menu labeling is an important practice for all restaurants and food establishments. Even if you are not part of a chain restaurant, thus falling under the FDA menu labeling rule, labeling your menu with allergens, calories, and other nutritional information is a win-win.

Customers will be able to choose their meal confident that it’s exactly what they want, and you will gain more new and return clients.