Louisville restaurant diners have more calorie, nutritional info as of today

The new law requires any food service establishment that posts caloric and other nutritional information on its website or through other communications methods to make the same information available to customers on-site at the restaurant. The restaurants must post this information on their menus, menu boards or through some other means readily available to the public on-site.

The ordinance does not require restaurants to post the information on drive-thru menu boards, as long as the information is posted or available inside the restaurant. It also exempts any restaurant already in compliance with the disclosure provisions of the Affordable Care Act, which requires restaurants with 20 or more locations to provide caloric information for menu items, food on display and self-service food.

“Consumers need good information to make healthy food choices when dining out,” said Dr. LaQuandra Nesbitt, Public Health and Wellness director. “A number of local restaurants have already worked with the Mayor’s Healthy Hometown Movement to voluntarily make nutritional information available to their customers. This new ordinance is yet another step to give consumers the information they need.”

Just prior to an establishment’s regular Public Health and Wellness food inspection, an internet search will be done to see if the restaurant posts nutritional information on-line. If the restaurant posts such information, the food inspector will have a printout of the posted information during the inspection and will ensure that the same information is available on-site at the restaurant on menus, menu boards or by some other means. Public Health and Wellness will also respond to complaints from the public to enforce the ordinance.

The ordinance calls for violators to have fourteen days to come into compliance and to be subject to a fine of $25 per day thereafter.