Decoding the Consumer Advisory Requirement

When designing a menu featuring items such as a medium-rare steak, eggs cooked sunny-side-up, or a tuna tartare, the culinary presentation and the item’s profit margins are often the most important considerations. However, failing to provide the consumer advisory required for these dishes can result in an automatic health code violation.

To remain fully compliant with regulatory standards, retail foodservice operations that serve raw or undercooked animal foods must properly format and display a Consumer Advisory, which is outlined in Section 3-603.11 of the 2022 FDA Food Code, Consumption of Animal Foods that are Raw, Undercooked, or Not Otherwise Processed to Eliminate Pathogens.

According to the code, if an animal food, such as beef, eggs, fish, lamb, pork, poultry, or shellfish, is served or sold raw, undercooked, or without being processed to eliminate pathogens, the foodservice operation must inform consumers of the increased health risk. To satisfy this, your menu or setup must incorporate two distinct structural components:

The Disclosure: A written statement that clearly identifies the animal-derived foods that are, or can be ordered, raw, undercooked, or without otherwise being processed to eliminate pathogens. This must be specific and developed from your menu, for example, Caesar Salad, hamburgers, or whatever items you have on your menu that can be ordered raw, undercooked, or without food preservation.
The Reminder: Under the FDA Food Code, consumer advisory reminders must link raw or undercooked animal foods to a footnote that warns of increased foodborne illness risks, either generally or for vulnerable populations, or alternatively states that written safety information is available upon request.

…failing to provide the required consumer advisory for raw or undercooked dishes can result in an automatic health code violation…

Operators have flexibility in how they display disclosures on their menus. Executing the consumer advisory requires a balance between regulatory compliance and guest experience. Common methods include explicitly describing the items within the menu text, such as “Oysters on the half shell (raw)”, “Caesar Salad (uncooked egg)”, or “Ribeye steak (cooked to order)” or attaching a symbol (like an asterisk) directly next to the menu item name to link it to a footnote.

If you use the asterisk method, it must point directly to a reminder footnote at the bottom of the menu. While the exact wording can vary slightly depending on state and local health department adoptions, a widely accepted standard that is pulled from the food code itself reads: “Consuming raw or undercooked meats, poultry, seafood, shellfish, or eggs may increase your risk of foodborne illness, especially if you have certain medical conditions.” Be sure the font size of your footnote is legible. Health inspectors frequently cite menus in which the consumer advisory text is reduced to unreadable fine print at the very bottom margin.

Hard-copy menus used in the operation are not the only place guests view your offerings. If your establishment utilizes digital displays, online ordering platforms, QR code menus, or third-party delivery apps, the consumer advisory must be visible there as well. Ensure your website or ordering portal clearly displays the required disclosure and reminder text before a customer can finalize checkout.

If your concept changes its menu daily or writes specials on a chalkboard, printing new menus constantly is impractical. The Food Code allows alternative posting methods when menus are absent, such as brochures, table tents, or clearly visible notices displayed at the point of ordering.

A consumer advisory is more than just a box to check for a health inspector; it is a vital communication tool that protects both your guests, especially highly susceptible populations, and your business liability. Review your menus today to ensure your disclosures and reminders are properly paired, easy to read, and fully aligned with Section 3-603.11 Risk Nothing.

The Cold Chain in the Hot Summer Months

Keeping foods at proper cold holding temperatures (between 28°F and 41°F maximum or 0°F for frozen food) from the food manufacturers to your customers has to be one of our strongest links to safe food. Sometimes that is referred to in the food industry as “maintaining the COLD CHAIN”. Any slip ups in the cold chain, and we have a weak link. If you accept the food, you have greatly increased your foodborne illness risk and compromised your food quality.

Routes of Foodborne Illness & Germs

From your sniffling coworker to the raw chicken on your kitchen cutting board, everyday life is full of potential infectious hazards. With germs so common and seemingly everywhere, knowing how germs spread is vital to preventing infection and foodborne illness. There are seven possible ways for the transmission of bacteria and viruses to take place. Although some of these microorganisms in our environment are good for us and protect us, disease causing pathogens are the germs or bad guys.

Handling Leafy Green Salad

We have had several produce outbreaks of foodborne disease from our lettuce, spinach, and other greens in the last several years that have been devastating to the produce growers and distributors, retail grocery stores, restaurants, and consumers.

Food Packaging Safety in a Vacuum

Extending the shelf life of fresh foods has come a long way in the food industry since curing meats with salt and sugar or canning vegetables with heat processing. The food service and consumer markets needed some better visual packages to draw the eye to the freshness factor and the technology of food packaging has filled our dinner plate. Vacuum packaging and modified atmosphere packaging, shortened to “MAP”, are the terms used for the method of food packaging used every time we choose convenience over more complex scratch meal preparation. According to industry statistics, billions of packages of vacuum and MAP-packaged foods flood the marketplace today. In both modified-atmosphere and vacuum packaging, food is packaged in a pouch made of barrier film.