This document was published under a previous government.
March 2016
A new regulation for menu labelling, which is part of the requirements of the Healthy Menu Choices Act, 2015, will come into force on January 1, 2017 and will help Ontarians make healthier food and beverage choices when dining out. It will also help to raise public awareness about the calorie content of food and beverages eaten outside the home.
Owners and operators of food service premises that are part of a chain with 20 or more locations in Ontario will be required to display calorie information, for every standard food and beverage item on their menus, and on display tags/labels or signs where standard food items are put on display or are self-serve. They will also be required to post a contextual statement regarding average daily caloric requirements to help consumers put the calorie information into context.
The ministry will provide more details and examples related to the Act and its regulation, which will be posted to the ministry website by spring 2016. Webinars, training sessions and education materials are also being planned.
The regulation is available online here.
Calories for standard food items will be displayed:
In order to distinguish the calorie information from other numbers on the menu or display tag (e.g. price), the term ''Calories'' or ''Cals'' will appear:
Owners and operators of food service premises that are part of a chain with 20 or more locations in Ontario will also be required to display the following contextual statement on menus or a sign that is visible when customers are ordering standard food items:
If a menu has multiple pages, the contextual statement can be displayed on every open page of the menu (i.e. every other page).
Members of the food and beverage industry may contact menulabelling@ontario.ca for more information.
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