Each panel below is a working miniature of a site that could run at this address: navigation, hero, product screen and proof numbers, followed by a plain note on how that business would position the name. All twenty stay on screen at all times; a lane simply marks its own. The domain sits in the browser bar of every one of them, whole and unbroken, because the name is the thing being sold.
01
Nineteen Locations Is Nothing. Twenty Is Everything.
The number in the statute, and what happens on either side of it
USFroyo
19 nothing20 everything2010
Read the clause
The rule does not phase in,
scale up or apply in part.
It applies to the twentieth
store exactly as to the thousandth.
Most federal obligations on a small food business arrive gradually. This one arrives all at once, at a number Congress wrote into the statute in 2010, and the regulation that implements it repeats the number without softening it.
21 U.S.C. 343(q)(5)(H)(i) FROM THE 2023 EDITION OF THE U.S. CODE ON govinfo, AND 21 C.F.R. 101.11(a) FROM THE eCFR AT ITS SEPTEMBER 30, 2026 EDITION · BOTH READ OCTOBER 4, 2026TWO SOURCES
... in the case of food that is a standard menu item that is offered for sale in a restaurant or similar retail food establishment that is part of a chain with 20 or more locations doing business under the same name (regardless of the type of ownership of the locations) and offering for sale substantially the same menu items, the restaurant or similar retail food establishment shall disclose the information described in subclauses (ii) and (iii).21 U.S.C. 343(q)(5)(H)(i), QUOTED. OUR ELLIPSIS REPLACES AN OPENING EXCEPTION FOR FOOD DESCRIBED IN SUBCLAUSE (vii).
WHERE THE NUMBER CAME FROMClause (H) was added by Public Law 111-148, title IV, section 4205(b), enacted March 23, 2010, 124 Stat. 573. The number is statutory. A regulation could not lower or raise it.SEC. 4205(b)
AND THERE IS NO GRADUATION IN EITHER TEXTWe read the statute and the regulation looking for a smaller-business tier, a tapering schedule or a partial obligation. There is none in either. The obligation is the same at twenty locations as at two thousand.ALL OR NOTHING
THE REGULATION REPEATS IT, AND ADDS ONE THING"Covered establishment means a restaurant or similar retail food establishment that is a part of a chain with 20 or more locations ... as well as a restaurant or similar retail food establishment that is registered to be covered under paragraph (d) of this section." The second half is card 19.101.11(a)
NOTHING ON THIS PAGE IS LEGAL ADVICE, AND NOTHING HERE TELLS ANY BUSINESS WHETHER IT IS COVERED OR WHAT IT SHOULD DO. THIS PAGE TAKES NO POSITION ON WHETHER THE RULE IS A GOOD ONE, MAKES NO NUTRITION OR HEALTH CLAIM, AND SAYS NOTHING ABOUT ANY STATE OR CITY.WHAT THIS IS
20locations, the trigger
2010the year Congress set it
0phase-in provisions
How they position itA cliff at a specific number is the single most consequential fact for anyone building a chain in this category, and it is four words of statute. A page that opens with it is the one an operator bookmarks.
02
Location Means A Fixed Position Or Site
The shortest definition in the rule, and the parenthesis that does the work
USFroyo
7 wordsownershipfranchises
Read the definition
Seven words define the thing
being counted. A parenthesis
six words long decides
whose stores count.
Two of the smallest pieces of drafting in the section carry most of its practical weight. One says what a location is. The other says that it does not matter who owns it.
21 C.F.R. 101.11(a), DEFINITIONS, QUOTED FROM THE eCFR AT ITS SEPTEMBER 30, 2026 EDITION · READ OCTOBER 4, 2026PRIMARY SOURCE
Location means a fixed position or site.21 C.F.R. 101.11(a), QUOTED WHOLE. THAT IS THE ENTIRE DEFINITION.
... a chain with 20 or more locations doing business under the same name (regardless of the type of ownership, e.g., individual franchises) and offering for sale substantially the same menu items ...21 C.F.R. 101.11(a), FROM THE DEFINITION OF COVERED ESTABLISHMENT. OUR ELLIPSES.
WHAT THE PARENTHESIS DOESIt settles, in six words, a question that would otherwise be the whole fight: whether twenty separately owned stores operating under one name are one chain. The regulation says ownership type is not the question. The word franchises appears exactly once in the section, and this is it.ONCE
AND WHAT THE SEVEN-WORD DEFINITION DOES NOT DOIt does not say the location must be open, staffed, permanent, or in the United States. It says fixed position or site. We report what it says and draw no conclusion about any particular arrangement, because that is exactly the kind of question this page refuses.NO CONCLUSION
7words in the definition
1parenthesis that settles ownership
1use of the word franchises
How they position itThe two shortest passages in the rule are the two that decide whether it applies to you. Printing them side by side is a thirty-second answer to the question this market asks first.
03
Having The Same Name Does Not Guarantee It
The definition that decides whether a group of stores is one chain
USFroyo
same recipesome varynot guaranteed
Read it whole
A significant proportion
of menu items using the
same general recipe. The test
is sameness, not signage.
The second half of the trigger is a definition that reads like a standard and ends with a sentence that gives back much of what the rest of it took. It is quoted here whole, because every clause of it matters.
21 C.F.R. 101.11(a), DEFINITION OF OFFERING FOR SALE SUBSTANTIALLY THE SAME MENU ITEMS, QUOTED WHOLE · READ OCTOBER 4, 2026PRIMARY SOURCE
Offering for sale substantially the same menu items means offering for sale a significant proportion of menu items that use the same general recipe and are prepared in substantially the same way with substantially the same food components, even if the name of the menu item varies, (e.g., "Bay View Crab Cake" and "Ocean View Crab Cake"). "Menu items" in this definition refers to food items that are listed on a menu or menu board or that are offered as self-service food or food on display. Restaurants and similar retail food establishments that are part of a chain can still be offering for sale substantially the same menu items if the availability of some menu items varies within the chain. Having the same name may indicate, but does not necessarily guarantee, that menu items are substantially the same.QUOTED WHOLE. THE COMMA BEFORE THE PARENTHESIS IS IN THE PRINTED REGULATION. THE DEFINED TERM IS THE WHOLE PHRASE BEGINNING "OFFERING FOR SALE", NOT THE SHORTER FORM USUALLY QUOTED.
WHAT IS NOT IN ITNo percentage. "A significant proportion" is the standard, and the regulation sets no figure against it anywhere in its 40,608 characters. We looked.NO NUMBER
AND THE LAST SENTENCE CUTS BOTH WAYSSame name does not guarantee sameness; and by the terms of the second and third sentences, variation in availability does not defeat it. The test is about the food, and it is written to resist both easy answers.BOTH DIRECTIONS
4sentences in the definition
1that qualifies the other three
0percentages given
How they position itQuoting a four-sentence definition whole, including the sentence that complicates it, is what separates a reference from a summary. This is the definition every franchise lawyer in the category reads first.
04
The Rule Never Says Yogurt
Searching the regulation and its entire preamble for the product
USFroyo
0 in the rule0 in 767k37 ice cream
Read the counts
Forty thousand characters
of regulation and three
quarters of a million
of preamble. Zero.
The federal rule that most directly governs a self-serve frozen yogurt shop does not contain the word. Neither does the explanatory document the agency published with it, which runs to more than three quarters of a million characters.
21 C.F.R. 101.11 PULLED FROM THE eCFR VERSIONER API AT ITS SEPTEMBER 30, 2026 EDITION, AND THE FULL TEXT OF 79 FR 71156 PULLED FROM govinfo, BOTH SEARCHED AS RAW TEXT · OCTOBER 4, 2026OUR SEARCH, DATED
THE CORPORA, AND THE METHODEvery tag replaced by one space, entities unescaped, whitespace runs collapsed to one. That yields 40,608 characters of regulation and 767,743 characters of preamble. The rule is printed with the figures because a count without a method cannot be checked.READ WHOLE
yogurt, yoghurt, frozen yogurt, froyoEach searched as a raw string across both. Zero in the regulation and zero in the preamble.0 AND 0
frozen dessert, gelato, sorbet, soft serveEach searched the same way across both.0
AND THE CONTROLS, BECAUSE A ZERO FROM A BAD READ IS WORTH NOTHINGIn the same pass, on the same text: calorie returns 118 in the regulation and topping returns 31. In the preamble, ice cream returns 37 and sundae returns 2. The files were read and the subject matter is plainly there.118 AND 37
WHAT THAT IS AND IS NOT EVIDENCE OFIt is not evidence that the rule does not reach this product; it plainly does, through categories written at a higher level. It is evidence that the categories, and not the product, are what a reader has to work with, which is why the next five cards are about self-service food rather than about dessert.
0in the regulation
0in the preamble
37mentions of ice cream
How they position itThe absence is the reason this page exists. An operator searching the rule for their own product finds nothing, and the page that explains why in four cards is the one they keep.
05
Three And A Half Years From Final To Effective
Tracing a compliance date through four documents in one docket
USFroyo
2014three moves2018
Read the chain
The rule was final in 2014
and binding in 2018, and
its own words were never
changed in between.
A final rule and the date you have to follow it are different things. This one separated by three and a half years, across three extensions, and the regulation's text came through the whole process untouched.
FOUR FEDERAL REGISTER DOCUMENTS IN DOCKET FDA-2011-F-0172, EACH OPENED ON govinfo · ALL READ OCTOBER 4, 2026FOUR SOURCES
79 FR 71156, DECEMBER 1, 2014The final rule. Its own stated effective date is December 1, 2015.FINAL RULE
80 FR 39675, JULY 10, 2015"Covered establishments must comply with the rule published December 1, 2014 (79 FR 71156) by December 1, 2016."MOVE ONE
81 FR 96364, DECEMBER 30, 2016Compliance moved to May 5, 2017.MOVE TWO
82 FR 20825, MAY 4, 2017An interim final rule, not a final rule. Compliance moved to May 7, 2018, and its DATES block recites the whole chain in one paragraph.MOVE THREE
AND A MISCOUNT THIS PAGE AVOIDSTwo further documents in the same docket, at 82 FR 30730 and 82 FR 34401, extended only the comment period on the interim final rule. They moved no compliance date. Counting them would give five extensions. There were three.THREE, NOT FIVE
AND THE TEXT ITSELF NEVER MOVEDThe source note under sec. 101.11 reads, in full, [79 FR 71253, Dec. 1, 2014], with no "as amended at" clause. The three extensions operated on the compliance date alone. For contrast, the parallel vending machine section at sec. 101.8 carries "as amended at 84 FR 57610, Oct. 28, 2019."
2014December 1, the final rule
3extensions of the compliance date
2018May 7, the date it bound
How they position itAnyone reading about this rule online encounters four dates and no explanation of which one binds. A page that lays the docket out in order, and names the two documents that are not extensions, answers that permanently.
06
Served By The Customers Themselves
The definition that puts a self-serve shop inside the rule
USFroyo
salad barbuffetsimilar
Read the definition
A salad bar, a buffet line,
a cafeteria line, or a similar
self-service facility.
The category is the format.
The rule has no word for this product, but it has a precise word for this format, and the word turns on who holds the dispenser rather than on what comes out of it.
21 C.F.R. 101.11(a), DEFINITION OF SELF-SERVICE FOOD, QUOTED WHOLE FROM THE eCFR AT ITS SEPTEMBER 30, 2026 EDITION · READ OCTOBER 4, 2026PRIMARY SOURCE
Self-service food means restaurant-type food that is available at a salad bar, buffet line, cafeteria line, or similar self-service facility and that is served by the customers themselves. Self-service food also includes self-service beverages.21 C.F.R. 101.11(a), QUOTED WHOLE.
THE OPERATIVE WORDS ARE THE LAST SIXThree named examples and a catch-all, and then a test: served by the customers themselves. Nothing in the definition turns on the food, its temperature, or the equipment it comes out of.WHO SERVES
AND IT FEEDS A SECOND DEFINITION"Standard menu item means a restaurant-type food that is routinely included on a menu or menu board or routinely offered as a self-service food or food on display." So a self-service food is a standard menu item even if it never appears on a menu at all.EVEN WITHOUT A MENU
HOW OFTEN IT IS USEDThe term self-service appears 16 times across the section. It is not an afterthought in the drafting; it has its own operative paragraph, which is card 08.16
4things the definition names
1of them a catch-all
16uses of the term in the section
How they position itThe rule has no word for the product and a very precise one for the format. Explaining that the format is the category is the first thing this page does for a reader.
07
Visible Before The Customer Chooses
The companion definition, and the clause at the end of it
USFroyo
visiblebeforeno expectation
Read the clause
Food on display is food
you can see before you
decide, so long as nobody
expects you to cook it.
The second format definition runs on visibility and timing, and it ends with a conditional clause that does a surprising amount of work for anything a customer finishes themselves.
21 C.F.R. 101.11(a), DEFINITION OF FOOD ON DISPLAY, QUOTED WHOLE · READ OCTOBER 4, 2026PRIMARY SOURCE
Food on display means restaurant-type food that is visible to the customer before the customer makes a selection, so long as there is not an ordinary expectation of further preparation by the consumer before consumption.21 C.F.R. 101.11(a), QUOTED WHOLE.
THE TWO CATEGORIES ARE NOT THE SAME CATEGORYSelf-service food turns on who serves it. Food on display turns on when you can see it. A single item can be both, one, or neither, and the regulation treats them together in its operative paragraph while defining them apart.SEPARATE TESTS
HOW OFTEN EACH TERM IS USEDAcross the section, self-service appears 16 times and food on display appears 5. Both have operative provisions of their own; neither is an aside in the drafting.16 AND 5
AND ONE PLACE WHERE THEY COME APART IN THE TEXTQuoted: "The labeling requirements of paragraph (b)(2)(iii) of this section do not apply to alcoholic beverages that are foods on display and are not self-service foods." The regulation carves at the seam between the two definitions, which is the clearest evidence that it means them to be different things.AT THE SEAM
2conditions in the definition
5uses of the term in the section
1exclusion clause
How they position itTwo definitions that look like one and are not is exactly the kind of thing a page like this exists to separate. The alcoholic-beverage carve-out is the proof, and almost nobody quotes it.
08
Per Quarter Pound Or Per Four Ounces
The branch of the rule written for a dispenser that does not portion
USFroyo
instrumentor weightby the ounce
Read the branch
If the scoop portions evenly,
declare per scoop. If nothing
portions evenly, declare
per unit of weight.
This is the provision that matters most to a shop where the customer pulls the handle and then puts the cup on a scale. The regulation anticipated exactly that arrangement and wrote a branch for it, in its own words.
21 C.F.R. 101.11(b)(2)(iii)(A), THE DEFINITION OF PER SERVING FOR SELF-SERVICE FOOD, QUOTED WHOLE · READ OCTOBER 4, 2026PRIMARY SOURCE
For purposes of paragraph (b)(2)(iii)(A) of this section, "per serving" means, for each food: (i) Per serving instrument used to dispense the food offered for sale, provided that the serving instrument dispenses a uniform amount of the food (e.g., a scoop or ladle); (ii) If a serving instrument that dispenses a uniform amount of food is not used to dispense the food, per each common household measure (e.g., cup or tablespoon) offered for sale or per unit of weight offered for sale, e.g., per quarter pound or per 4 ounces; or (iii) Per total number of fluid ounces in the cup in which a self-service beverage is served and, if applicable, the description of the cup size (e.g., "140 calories per 12 fluid ounces (small)").QUOTED WHOLE. THE EXAMPLES IN PARENTHESES ARE THE REGULATION'S OWN.
THE CONDITION ON BRANCH (i) IS THE WHOLE HINGEPer serving instrument is available only where the instrument dispenses a uniform amount. The regulation does not assume that it does; it makes that an express proviso and then writes a second branch for when it is not met.A PROVISO
AND BRANCH (ii) IS WRITTEN IN THE UNITS OF A RETAIL SCALEPer common household measure, or per unit of weight offered for sale, and the examples the agency chose are a quarter pound and four ounces. Those are the units a pay-by-weight counter already works in.BY WEIGHT
THREE BRANCHES, AND ONLY ONE CAN APPLY AT A TIMEThe provision is written as 3 alternatives, (i), (ii) and (iii), and which one is live is settled by the equipment and the product rather than by a choice.3
THE THIRD BRANCH IS FOR DRINKSPer total fluid ounces in the cup, with the cup-size description, and the regulation supplies the sentence it has in mind: "140 calories per 12 fluid ounces (small)".PER CUP
THIS CARD DESCRIBES WHAT THE PROVISION SAYS. IT DOES NOT TELL ANY BUSINESS WHICH BRANCH APPLIES TO ITS OWN EQUIPMENT, AND THIS PAGE GIVES NO SUCH ADVICE ANYWHERE.NOT ADVICE
3branches in the provision
1that turns on weight
1mention of a quarter pound
How they position itA pay-by-weight counter reading its own business model in the text of a federal regulation is the moment this page earns its price. The quarter pound is the agency's example, not ours.
09
Three Places The Sign May Go
Where the required statements sit when the food has no menu
USFroyo
on the signnearbythe board
Read the options
Adjacent to the food,
on a larger sign close by,
or on a board the customer
can read while looking at it.
A self-serve counter often has no menu in the ordinary sense. The regulation handles that by defining what counts as a menu, and then giving three permitted placements for the statements that have to accompany the calories.
21 C.F.R. 101.11(b)(2)(iii)(B) AND THE DEFINITION OF MENU OR MENU BOARD AT 101.11(a) · BOTH READ OCTOBER 4, 2026TWO PROVISIONS
These two statements may appear on the sign adjacent to the food itself; on a separate, larger sign, in close proximity to the food that can be easily read as the consumer is making order selections; or on a large menu board that can be easily read as the consumer is viewing the food.21 C.F.R. 101.11(b)(2)(iii)(B), CLOSING SENTENCE, QUOTED WHOLE. THE TWO STATEMENTS ARE THOSE REQUIRED BY (b)(2)(i)(B) AND (b)(2)(i)(C).
WHAT MAKES A SIGN A MENUThe definition is long and the test inside it is practical: whether the writing lists the item's name or an image of it and its price, and "whether the writing can be used by a customer to make an order selection at the time the customer is viewing the writing."AT THE TIME
THREE, AND THE THIRD IS THE ONE PEOPLE MISSThe sentence offers 3 placements: on the sign itself, on a separate larger sign close by, or on a large menu board readable while the customer looks at the food. The third does not have to be adjacent to anything.3
AND THE DEFINITION NAMES ITS OWN FORMSQuoted: the menus "may be in different forms, e.g., booklets, pamphlets, or single sheets of paper," and menu boards "include those inside a covered establishment as well as drive-through menu boards."ANY FORM
NO MEASURED DISTANCE ANYWHERE"Close proximity" and "easily read" are the standards. We searched the section for a stated distance, a font size in points, or a measured separation for this provision and found none; the type-size rules are relative, pegged to the name or price of the item.RELATIVE ONLY
3permitted placements
1condition on all three
0required distances
How they position itAn operator with a counter and no menu board needs to know what the rule counts as a menu. That question is answered in two definitions and one sentence, and this is where they sit together.
10
Sixty Days, Or Ninety Consecutive
The two windows a food can live in before the rule reaches it
USFroyo
60 a year90 in a rowtwo tests
Read both
A flavor that runs under
sixty days a year is temporary.
One that runs under ninety
in a row is a market test.
Rotating flavors are the format's whole appeal, and the regulation has two separate windows for food that comes and goes. They are counted differently, which is the part that gets missed.
21 C.F.R. 101.11(a) DEFINITIONS AND 101.11(b)(2)(i)(A)(8) AND (b)(2)(iii)(A)(2) · READ OCTOBER 4, 2026PRIMARY SOURCE
TEMPORARY MENU ITEMQuoted: "a food that appears on a menu or menu board for less than a total of 60 days per calendar year." The count is cumulative across the year, so a flavor that returns repeatedly adds up.CUMULATIVE
FOOD THAT IS PART OF A CUSTOMARY MARKET TESTQuoted: "food that appears on a menu or menu board for fewer than 90 consecutive days in order to test consumer acceptance of the product." The count is a single unbroken run, and the purpose is written into the definition.CONSECUTIVE
AND THE SELF-SERVICE VERSION USES BOTH AT ONCEQuoted: "Self-service food and food on display that is offered for sale for less than a total of 60 days per calendar year or fewer than 90 consecutive days in order to test consumer acceptance." One sentence, two tests, joined by or.ONE SENTENCE
WHAT THIS CARD DOES NOT DOIt does not tell anyone how to schedule a rotation, and it draws no conclusion about whether any particular flavor would fall inside either window. Those are precisely the questions this page refuses; card 20 lists them.
60days per calendar year
90consecutive days
2different ways of counting
How they position itRotating flavors is the business model, and two differently-counted windows is a distinction an operator will not find stated this plainly anywhere else.
11
Four Mentions, All Of Them Examples
Every place the regulation names a frozen dessert, and what it is doing there
USFroyo
4 in the rule0 rulesall examples
Read all four
The nearest the rule comes
to this category is ice cream,
named four times, and never
once as a rule about it.
Searching the regulation for the closest thing to the product returns four hits. Set out in full, they are all illustrations inside provisions written about something else, which is a useful thing for a reader to know before they go looking.
21 C.F.R. 101.11 SEARCHED AS RAW TEXT, EVERY HIT OPENED AND READ IN PLACE · OCTOBER 4, 2026OUR SEARCH, DATED
HITS ONE AND TWO, IN THE FLAVORS PROVISION"When the menu or menu board lists flavors or varieties of an entire individual variable menu item (such as soft drinks, ice cream, doughnuts, dips, and chicken that can be grilled or fried), the calories must be declared separately for each listed flavor or variety."AN EXAMPLE
HITS THREE AND FOUR, IN THE TOPPINGS PROVISIONQuoted in full on card 12. Both are parentheticals: "(such as pizza or ice cream)" and a list of toppings ending "fudge, almonds, sprinkles on ice cream".TWO MORE
AND ONE IN THE STATUTE21 U.S.C. 343(q)(5)(H)(v), on menu variability: the agency shall set standards for items "that come in different flavors, varieties, or combinations, but which are listed as a single menu item, such as soft drinks, ice cream, pizza, doughnuts, or children's combination meals".A LIST
SO THE SHAPE OF ITCongress named the category once, in a list of things that vary. The agency carried the same example into two provisions about variation. Neither wrote a rule about the food. They wrote rules about items that come in versions, and used this one to show what they meant.ABOUT VARIATION
4mentions in the regulation
0rules specific to the category
1mention in the statute
How they position itKnowing that every mention is an example, and not a rule, saves a reader from the most natural wrong conclusion in this whole area. It is also only findable by reading all four in place.
12
Fudge, Almonds, Sprinkles
The provision that describes this shop's entire business model
USFroyo
the baseeach toppingadded to
Read the provision
Declare the base. Then declare
each topping separately,
and say that the topping
adds to the base.
A self-serve frozen dessert counter is a base plus toppings, priced together. The regulation has a provision for exactly that structure, and the example it reaches for is a bowl with sprinkles on it.
21 C.F.R. 101.11(b)(2)(i)(A)(5), QUOTED WHOLE FROM THE eCFR AT ITS SEPTEMBER 30, 2026 EDITION · READ OCTOBER 4, 2026PRIMARY SOURCE
Additional requirements that apply to a variable menu item that is offered for sale with the option of adding toppings listed on the menu or menu board. When the menu or menu board lists toppings that can be added to a menu item (such as pizza or ice cream):
(i) The calories must be declared for the basic preparation of the menu item as listed (e.g., "small pizza pie," "single scoop ice cream").
(ii) The calories must be separately declared for each topping listed on the menu or menu board (e.g., pepperoni, sausage, green peppers, onions on pizza; fudge, almonds, sprinkles on ice cream), specifying that the calories are added to the calories contained in the basic preparation of the menu item.QUOTED WHOLE. THE COMMA INSIDE THE CLOSING QUOTATION MARK AFTER "small pizza pie," IS IN THE PRINTED REGULATION.
THE TRIGGER IS THE MENU, NOT THE COUNTERBoth paragraphs begin from toppings listed on the menu or menu board. Which writings are a menu board is settled by the definition on card 09, and for a self-serve counter that is the question the provision turns on.LISTED
AND THE SECOND HALF OF (ii) IS AN OBLIGATION ABOUT WORDINGNot only separate figures, but "specifying that the calories are added to the calories contained in the basic preparation." The regulation requires the relationship between the numbers to be stated, not just the numbers.SPECIFYING
THIS PAGE DESCRIBES WHAT THE PROVISION REQUIRES OF A COVERED ESTABLISHMENT. IT DOES NOT SAY WHETHER ANY PARTICULAR SHOP IS ONE, DOES NOT TELL ANYONE WHAT TO PUT ON A SIGN, AND MAKES NO CLAIM ABOUT ANY FOOD BEING HEALTHY OR UNHEALTHY.NOT ADVICE
2declarations required
1that must be separate per topping
3toppings named in the example
How they position itSprinkles named in the Code of Federal Regulations is the detail that makes an operator believe the rest of the page. It is also the provision that actually governs their counter.
13
Each Flavor, Separately
What happens when one menu line covers several things
USFroyo
flavorsvarietiesor a range
Read the options
One line on the board
covering twelve flavors is
twelve declarations, unless
the item qualifies for a range.
The rule distinguishes between an item whose whole identity varies and an item with variable components, and it gives them different treatment. For a rotating-flavor counter the distinction is the one that decides how many numbers go on the wall.
21 C.F.R. 101.11(b)(2)(i)(A)(4)(i) AND THE DEFINITION OF VARIABLE MENU ITEM AT 101.11(a) · READ OCTOBER 4, 2026TWO PROVISIONS
When the menu or menu board lists flavors or varieties of an entire individual variable menu item (such as soft drinks, ice cream, doughnuts, dips, and chicken that can be grilled or fried), the calories must be declared separately for each listed flavor or variety.21 C.F.R. 101.11(b)(2)(i)(A)(4)(i), QUOTED WHOLE.
THE WORD ENTIRE IS DOING WORKThis paragraph is about a variable item whose whole identity changes between versions, which is what a flavor is. Items that vary only in a component are handled by the neighboring paragraphs, including the toppings provision on card 12.WHOLE vs PART
AND THE TRIGGER IS AGAIN THE LISTING"When the menu or menu board lists flavors or varieties". A flavor that is never listed is not reached by this paragraph, though it may be reached as a self-service food under card 08, which is a different route with a different unit.TWO ROUTES
A DISTINCTION WE WILL NOT RESOLVE FOR ANYONEWhich paragraph a given arrangement falls under is exactly the question an operator would want answered, and it is exactly the question this page refuses. We print the provisions and stop.
2kinds of variable item
1that is declared per flavor
0cap on the number of declarations
How they position itTwelve flavors on one line is the most common arrangement in this category and the least obvious case in the rule. Laying out both routes without resolving either is what a reference does.
14
To The Nearest Five, Then The Nearest Ten
The arithmetic the regulation prescribes for the number itself
USFroyo
5 to 5010 aboveunder 5 zero
Read the rule
Below fifty, round to five.
Above fifty, round to ten.
Under five, you may
simply write zero.
The figure on the sign is not the figure from the analysis. The regulation prescribes how to round it, in one sentence, and the sentence has three parts with a different rule in each.
21 C.F.R. 101.11(b)(2)(i)(A)(2), AND THE PARALLEL PROVISION FOR SELF-SERVICE FOOD · READ OCTOBER 4, 2026PRIMARY SOURCE
To the nearest 5-calorie increment up to and including 50 calories and to the nearest 10-calorie increment above 50 calories, except that amounts less than 5 calories may be expressed as zero.21 C.F.R. 101.11(b)(2)(i)(A)(2), QUOTED WHOLE. THE SAME SENTENCE APPEARS AGAIN IN THE SELF-SERVICE PROVISION AT (b)(2)(iii)(A)(3)(i).
THE THIRD CLAUSE IS PERMISSIVE AND THE OTHER TWO ARE NOTMust round to five, must round to ten, may express under five as zero. One sentence carrying two obligations and one option.MAY, NOT MUST
AND THE TYPE SIZE IS RELATIVE, NOT ABSOLUTEThe number must be "in a type size no smaller than the type size of the name or the price of the associated standard menu item, whichever is smaller, in the same color, or a color at least as conspicuous" and against a background at least as contrasting. No point size appears anywhere; everything is pegged to what is already on the board.PEGGED
AND THE HEADING IS SPECIFIED TOOThe term "Calories" or "Cal" must appear as a heading above the column or adjacent to each figure, with its own relative type-size rule.CALORIES OR CAL
5calorie increment up to 50
10calorie increment above 50
0what under 5 may be written as
How they position itRounding rules are the kind of thing people get wrong from memory. Quoting the sentence and separating the two musts from the one may is a small thing that makes the page citable.
15
The Sentence You Are Given
A statement the regulation writes out for you, word for word
USFroyo
the wordsverbatima variant
Read the words
Two thousand calories a day
is used for general nutrition
advice, but calorie needs vary.
Those are the words.
Most of this rule tells you what to disclose and leaves the wording alone. One provision does the opposite: it supplies the exact sentence, and a different exact sentence for boards aimed at children.
21 C.F.R. 101.11(b)(2)(i)(B), THE SUCCINCT STATEMENT, QUOTED WHOLE · READ OCTOBER 4, 2026PRIMARY SOURCE
"2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice, but calorie needs vary."21 C.F.R. 101.11(b)(2)(i)(B). THE REGULATION CALLS IT THE SUCCINCT STATEMENT AND PRINTS IT IN QUOTATION MARKS, WHICH ARE CURLY IN THE ORIGINAL AND STRAIGHT HERE.
"1,200 to 1,400 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice for children ages 4 to 8 years, but calorie needs vary."THE ALTERNATIVE THE REGULATION OFFERS FOR MENUS AND MENU BOARDS TARGETED TO CHILDREN, QUOTED. IT MAY BE USED AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR OR IN ADDITION TO THE STATEMENT ABOVE.
WHY A PRESCRIBED SENTENCE IS UNUSUALElsewhere the rule specifies what must be disclosed and how prominently. Here it specifies the characters. The provision exists to put the calorie figures "in the context of a total daily diet", in the regulation's own words, and the agency wrote the context rather than describing it.VERBATIM
THE REGULATION HAS A NAME FOR ITIt calls this the succinct statement, and uses that term 3 times across the section: once to prescribe it and twice to say where it goes.3
AND ITS PLACEMENT IS SPECIFIED TOOFor a self-service counter, this is one of the two statements that may sit in any of the three places on card 09. Its type size is pegged the same relative way as the calorie figures themselves.THREE PLACES
THIS PAGE QUOTES THE SENTENCE BECAUSE THE REGULATION PRESCRIBES IT. QUOTING IT IS NOT NUTRITION ADVICE, AND THIS PAGE OFFERS NONE, TAKES NO POSITION ON THE FIGURE, AND MAKES NO CLAIM ABOUT ANY READER'S DIET.A QUOTATION, NOT ADVICE
1sentence prescribed verbatim
1alternative for children
3uses of the term for it
How they position itA federal regulation writing out the exact sentence that goes on a wall is a striking thing to show someone, and it is the one line of the rule a customer will actually have read.
16
A Reasonable Basis
The standard behind every number, stated in nine words
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9 wordsfive meansno lab required
Read the standard
A covered establishment must
have a reasonable basis
for its nutrient declarations.
That is the whole standard.
The rule does not require a laboratory. It requires a reasonable basis, names several ways of having one, and leaves the list open at the end, which is a lighter obligation than most readers expect and a documented one.
21 C.F.R. 101.11(c)(1), QUOTED WHOLE FROM THE eCFR AT ITS SEPTEMBER 30, 2026 EDITION · READ OCTOBER 4, 2026PRIMARY SOURCE
A covered establishment must have a reasonable basis for its nutrient declarations. Nutrient values may be determined by using nutrient databases (with or without computer software programs), cookbooks, laboratory analyses, or other reasonable means, including the use of Nutrition Facts on labels on packaged foods that comply with the nutrition labeling requirements of section 403(q)(1) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and sec. 101.9, FDA nutrient values for raw fruits and vegetables in Appendix C of this part, or FDA nutrient values for cooked fish in Appendix D of this part.21 C.F.R. 101.11(c)(1), QUOTED WHOLE. THE SECTION SIGN IN THE ORIGINAL IS RENDERED HERE AS "sec."
AND A SECOND OBLIGATION SITS BESIDE ITQuoted from (c)(2): declarations "must be accurate and consistent with the specific basis used to determine nutrient values," and the establishment "must take reasonable steps to ensure that the method of preparation (e.g., types and amounts of ingredients, cooking temperatures) and amount of a standard menu item offered for sale adhere to the factors on which its nutrient values were determined."AND ADHERENCE
A CROSS-REFERENCE WORTH NOTINGThe statute's own reasonable-basis clause, at 21 U.S.C. 343(q)(5)(H)(iv), points at section 101.10 of title 21, not 101.11. We report the cross-reference as printed and draw no conclusion from it.101.10
9words in the standard
5means it names
1open-ended catch-all
How they position itOperators in this category assume a laboratory. The standard is nine words and the list of acceptable means is open. Saying so with the text in front of them is the most useful thing on the page.
17
Two Signatures, And They Are Not The Same
A difference in who may sign that is easy to read past
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(F) complete(G) stepswho signs
Read both
One certifies the analysis
is complete and accurate.
The other certifies the kitchen
matches it. Different signers.
The substantiation provision ends in two signed statements. They say different things, and read as printed, they permit different people to sign them.
21 C.F.R. 101.11(c)(3)(i)(F) AND (G), BOTH QUOTED WHOLE · READ OCTOBER 4, 2026TWO PROVISIONS, COMPARED
A statement signed and dated by a responsible individual, employed at the covered establishment or its corporate headquarters or parent entity, who can certify that the information contained in the nutrient analysis is complete and accurate; and21 C.F.R. 101.11(c)(3)(i)(F), QUOTED WHOLE.
A statement signed and dated by a responsible individual employed at the covered establishment certifying that the covered establishment has taken reasonable steps to ensure that the method of preparation (e.g., types and amounts of ingredients in the recipe, cooking temperatures) and amount of a standard menu item offered for sale adhere to the factors on which its nutrient values were determined.21 C.F.R. 101.11(c)(3)(i)(G), QUOTED WHOLE.
THE DIFFERENCE, PRINTED PLAINLY(F) names three possible employers: the establishment, its corporate headquarters, or its parent entity. (G), as written, names one. We quote both whole and offer no reading of what follows from that, because that is a legal question and this page does not answer those.AS WRITTEN
AND A PRINTING ARTEFACT WE WILL NOT SILENTLY FIXThe parallel certification for the cookbook route, at (c)(3)(ii)(D), reads "certifying that that the covered establishment" in the official text. The doubled word is in the regulation. We say so rather than quietly correcting a quotation.IN THE ORIGINAL
2certifications
1that permits headquarters
1that names the establishment
How they position itA two-word difference between two adjacent certifications is the sort of thing only a careful reading surfaces, and it is the sort of thing a buyer's counsel notices and remembers the page for.
18
What The Agency May Ask To See
The records behind a number, listed by the regulation itself
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4 routeswithin reasonon request
Read the list
Within a reasonable period
of time upon request, the
method and the data. The rule
lists what that means.
The obligation is not to file anything. It is to be able to produce the working, and the regulation sets out four substantiation routes with a different record list for each.
21 C.F.R. 101.11(c)(3), OPENING AND SUBPARAGRAPH (i), READ IN FULL · OCTOBER 4, 2026PRIMARY SOURCE
A covered establishment must provide to FDA, within a reasonable period of time upon request, information substantiating nutrient values including the method and data used to derive these nutrient values.21 C.F.R. 101.11(c)(3), OPENING SENTENCE, QUOTED WHOLE.
ROUTE ONE, NUTRIENT DATABASES5 items: the database name and version including version date, the software company name and any web address; the recipe or formula used as the basis; the per-ingredient nutrient contribution and how the database was used, including worksheets or printouts, or a certification that the database gives accurate results when used per its instructions; a detailed listing of values per menu item; and any other pertinent information, the regulation's example being moisture variations.FIVE ITEMS
ROUTE TWO, PUBLISHED COOKBOOKSName, author and publisher; any available information on how the nutrition information was obtained; and copies of the recipe and of the cookbook's nutrition information.FOUR ITEMS
ROUTE THREE, LABORATORY ANALYSESThe recipe; the laboratory's name and address; and copies of analytical worksheets including the analytical method.THREE ITEMS
ROUTE FOUR, OTHER REASONABLE MEANSIts own list, matching the open-ended means permitted by (c)(1).OPEN
AND WHAT IS NOT HERENo application, no approval, no periodic submission, no inspection schedule in this paragraph. The duty is to hold the working and produce it on request. We describe the records the regulation lists and tell nobody what to keep, which is a different thing.ON REQUEST ONLY
4substantiation routes
5record items for the database route
0routine filings required
How they position itThe gap between what operators imagine this requires and what it says is the widest on the page. Listing the four routes from the text closes it in one card.
19
Opting In Buys Uniformity
The preemption provision, read in the direction people do not expect
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not identicalunlessregistered
Read the clause
A business under the threshold
can register to be covered.
Doing so pulls it inside
a uniform federal requirement.
The last piece is the one that surprises people. The federal preemption clause carves out small establishments, which sounds like a protection, until you read the end of the sentence and see what registering changes.
21 U.S.C. 343-1(a)(4) AND 343(q)(5)(H)(ix) FROM THE 2023 EDITION OF THE U.S. CODE ON govinfo, AND 21 C.F.R. 101.11(d) · ALL READ OCTOBER 4, 2026THREE SOURCES
... no State or political subdivision of a State may directly or indirectly establish under any authority or continue in effect as to any food in interstate commerce ... any requirement for nutrition labeling of food that is not identical to the requirement of section 343(q) of this title, except that this paragraph does not apply to food that is offered for sale in a restaurant or similar retail food establishment that is not part of a chain with 20 or more locations ... unless such restaurant or similar retail food establishment complies with the voluntary provision of nutrition information requirements under section 343(q)(5)(H)(ix).21 U.S.C. 343-1(a) PREAMBLE AND (a)(4), QUOTED. OUR ELLIPSES REPLACE PARAGRAPHS (1) TO (3) AND THE REPEATED CHAIN LANGUAGE.
READ IT IN ORDER AND THE DIRECTION REVERSESNon-identical state nutrition-labeling requirements are preempted. Small establishments are carved out of that preemption. Registering voluntarily ends the carve-out, so the uniform federal requirement applies instead. That is what the final clause does.UNLESS
WHAT REGISTERING IS21 U.S.C. 343(q)(5)(H)(ix)(I), quoted: an authorized official of an establishment "not subject to the requirements of this clause may elect to be subject to the requirements of such clause, by registering biannually the name and address" with the Secretary. And (ix)(III), quoted: nothing in it authorizes the Secretary "to require an application, review, or licensing process".NO APPROVAL
AND THE STATUTE ADDED A RULE OF CONSTRUCTIONSection 4205(d) of the 2010 Act, uncodified, provides that nothing in the amendments is to be construed to preempt state or local law unless it establishes disclosures of the type required and is expressly preempted, nor to apply to a state or local warning about the safety of a food.SEC. 4205(d)
THIS PAGE QUOTES THE FEDERAL PREEMPTION PROVISION AND NOTHING ELSE. IT DESCRIBES NO STATE'S OR CITY'S LAW, SAYS NOTHING ABOUT WHAT ANY JURISDICTION REQUIRES, AND TELLS NO BUSINESS WHETHER TO REGISTER.FEDERAL TEXT ONLY
1sentence that does it
2registrations a year, by statute
0approvals involved
How they position itA preemption clause that runs backwards from how everyone reads it is the single most valuable paragraph here for a growing chain, and almost nothing written for this audience gets to the end of the sentence.
20
What This Page Will Not Say
The claims we could have made from a source, published so the list can be checked
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RefusedCheckable15
Hold us to it
Fifteen things
we would not
put in print.
Every figure here names its source and the date it was read. Where a search was run, the corpus and the method are printed with the result. These refusals are published together so a buyer can check them against every other card.
THE FULL LIST, PUBLISHED SO IT CAN BE CHECKED AGAINST EVERY OTHER CARDREFUSED
01Any advice to anybody. Not to an operator, not to a franchisee, not to a customer. No what to post, no how to comply, no what records to keep.
02Whether any particular business is covered. The threshold and the two definitions behind it are printed in full; applying them to a real arrangement is a legal question and this page does not answer those.
03Anything about what any state or city requires, in either direction. The preemption clause is quoted as federal text. No state or local instrument was read, so none is described.
04Any nutrition, health or diet claim. Nothing here says any food is healthy or unhealthy, that any figure is high or low, or that any reader should eat anything.
05Any position on whether the rule is a good one, whether disclosure works, or whether the threshold is set in the right place. The page describes an instrument.
06That the rule covers frozen yogurt by name. It does not mention it at all, in 40,608 characters of regulation or 767,743 of preamble, and card 04 is the count.
07"Substantially the same menu items" as a defined term. The defined term is the whole phrase beginning "Offering for sale". Card 03 quotes it under its real name.
08That the compliance date was extended five times. Three documents moved it. Two others in the same docket moved only the comment period, and card 05 names both.
09Which branch of the per-serving provision applies to any real equipment. The three branches are quoted whole on card 08 and we resolve none of them.
10What follows from the difference between the two certifications. Card 17 prints both whole and offers no reading of the difference.
11That any agency erred, delayed improperly or was wrong about anything here, including the three extensions and the cross-reference to section 101.10. We report what the documents say.
12Any business named, anywhere. No chain, no brand, no franchise system, no trade association, and no claim about any operator's compliance with anything.
13Any market size, store count, growth rate or search volume for this category, from any source. None appears on this page.
14A count taken from another reader. Every figure here is our own count, by the method printed beside it, on text we pulled ourselves on one date.
15That any of this is complete. We read one regulation, its preamble, its statute, the preemption provision and the four documents in its docket. We do not say no other federal instrument touches this subject.
EVERY NUMBER ON THIS PAGE NAMES ITS SOURCE AND THE DATE IT WAS READ. WHERE A SEARCH WAS RUN, THE CORPUS AND THE METHOD ARE PRINTED WITH THE RESULT. WHERE SOMETHING COULD NOT BE SETTLED, THE CARD SAYS SO.SOURCED OR ABSENT
15refused claims
0unsourced numbers
0sentences of advice
How they position itIn a category sold on reassurance, publishing the refusals is the whole differentiator. It is also the only honest way to print the rest.