CHICAGO, July1, 2026 — Under a first-of-its-kind new law, chain restaurants in California will be required starting today to flag menu items that contain a known food allergen.
The new labeling mandate is one of several legislative and regulatory changes that take effect July 1 for food-away-from-home businesses. Here’s a deeper dive into three of the major ones.
Restaurants in the Golden State that have at least 19 sister branches nationwide are required starting today to identify each and every menu item that contains one of the nine most-common food allergens.
The potential trigger has to be identified either in print on the menu or menu board, or via a QR code next to the item that contains it. If a QR code is used, some sort of printed handout also has to be provided, a concession to customers who may not have a smartphone.
No other state has such a law, but California’s groundbreaker is already being studied as a potential model for other jurisdictions.
The ingredients that need to be flagged are milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans and sesame.
As of today, FAFH customers in Florida need to be apprised of any service fee or other fixed surcharge before they order. The information has to specify what percentage of the bill will be levied as a charge and how the establishment will use the proceeds.
The disclosure requirement applies not only to printed on-premise menus but also electronic bills of fare used on websites and apps.
The requirement is intended to spare customers from being blindsided by unexpected surcharges, which have become a common way for restaurants to offset rising food, labor and occupancy costs.
Similar legislation is already in effect in other states.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on June 25 that President Donald Trump indeed had the authority to end the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) of immigrants from Haiti and Syria by executive order.
The decision in effect strips 354,000 individuals from those nations from living and working legally in the U.S. It is not clear when the administration will act on the court ruling, possibly by deporting or apprehending the now-illegal immigrants, but the National Restaurant Association has said the enforcement could begin today, on the cusp of the July 4th holiday.
The Association said the removal of those individuals from the industry’s labor pool will be disastrous for the restaurant industry, which is already struggling to fill vacancies. It teamed up with 12 state restaurant associations to formally request that affected individuals working in restaurants be allowed to keep their jobs for another 90 or 120 days, or until the busy summer season concludes.
As Managing Editor for IFMA The Food Away from Home Association, Romeo is responsible for generating the group's news and feature content. He brings more than 40 years of experience in covering restaurants to the position.
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