{"id":150271,"date":"2026-01-26T18:19:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-26T18:19:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/150271\/"},"modified":"2026-01-26T18:19:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-26T18:19:10","slug":"california-restaurant-menus-now-have-to-disclose-food-allergens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/150271\/","title":{"rendered":"California restaurant menus now have to disclose food allergens"},"content":{"rendered":"

Anyone dining out in California will soon notice a major change to menus.<\/p>\n

California\u2019s Allergen Disclosure for Dining Experiences Act (ADDE) has officially taken effect, calling for restaurants and food facilities with 20 or more locations nationwide to clearly list major allergens on the menu.<\/p>\n

Restaurants will be required to \u201cprovide written notification of the major food allergens that the food facility knows or reasonably should know are contained as an ingredient in each menu item, either directly on its menu or in a digital format.\u201d<\/p>\n

California will become the first state in the nation to require the rundown.<\/p>\n

The law mandates that any known allergens be listed in each dish\u2019s description or through a QR code that customers can scan.<\/p>\n

Restaurant chains have until July 1, 2026, to implement the new changes and add to menus.<\/p>\n

In particular, the \u201cBig 9\u201d major food allergens<\/a> need to be listed: milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans and sesame.<\/p>\n

AADE was inspired by and named for Addie Lao, a 9-year-old who has been advocating for the law with her mother, Robyn Lao.<\/p>\n

Addie \u2014 who is allergic to dairy, peanuts, tree nuts and sesame \u2014 explained to Allergic Living<\/a> in October that the idea for the bill came after she dined at a restaurant where allergens were voluntary displayed, and she thought that should be a requirement for all restaurants.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ADDE bill is so important so adults and kids like me can eat safely,\u201d Addie told the outlet. \u201cI learned that even though I\u2019m just a kid, I can make a big difference,\u201d Addie said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSB 68 is a crucial first step toward a culture of food allergy safety that will save lives and empower families like ours to dine out,\u201d Robyn added.<\/p>\n

\"BajaCalifornia will become the first state in the nation requiring restaurants to list major food allergens. Monique Calello\/The News Leader, Staunton News Leader via Imagn Content Services, LLC<\/p>\n

According to Food Allergy Research & Education<\/a> (FARE), an estimated 33 million Americans have at least one food allergy, which breaks down to about one in 10 adults and one in 13 children.<\/p>\n

\u201cSoon, the millions of Californians with food allergies, many of whom are young children, will be able to fully enjoy dining out without fear or apprehension at these qualifying restaurants,\u201d California State Sen. Caroline Menjivar said when the bill passed in the Legislature, per ABC News<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn turn, these businesses will be able to offer allergen families a unique additional assurance that will drive customers to their establishments.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AThe \u201cBig 9\u201d major food allergens include milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans and sesame. San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images<\/p>\n

However, the California Restaurant Association has previously argued that the new law will be a burden to some businesses, noting that it could lead to \u201cpredatory laws,\u201d ABC News reported in October.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe continue to assess the impacts to those members of ours still subject to the proposed law and are working with them to determine if a change in position is warranted,\u201d CEO Jot Condie said in a statement at the time.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, FARE said the bill is a \u201cmeaningful step\u201d to protect those living with food allergies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Anyone dining out in California will soon notice a major change to menus. California\u2019s Allergen Disclosure for Dining…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":150272,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[5059,7,9,8,19000,1339,1570,971,412],"class_list":["post-150271","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-allergies","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news","tag-chain-restaurants","tag-food-drink","tag-health","tag-lifestyle","tag-restaurants"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150271","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=150271"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150271\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/150272"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=150271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=150271"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=150271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}