SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom signed the San Francisco local menu-labeling ordinance into law March 24. The new law requires chain restaurants in the city and county of San Francisco, with 20 or more units, to provide certain nutritional information directly on menus and menu boards.
The information must be printed on menus and menu boards, and all affected restaurants are required to hang a poster in the establishment with more nutritional information for each menu item. Regulators say the new law will go into effect April 23, 2008.
According to the California Restaurant Association, which opposed the ordinance, on July 1, 2008, chain restaurants first will have to submit the required nutrition information for their menu items in an electronic format to the San Francisco Department of Public Health; 90 days after the ordinance effective date, disclosure for menus, food tags and posters is required; and 150 days after the ordinance effective date, disclosure for menu boards is required. Click here to review the ordinance.
