H.R. 2511
Sarah Katz Caffeine Safety Act
Sponsor: Robert Menendez
Official summary
Written by the Congressional Research Service.
Sarah Katz Caffeine Safety Act
This bill establishes labeling and disclosure requirements for caffeinated food, beverages, and supplements.
Specifically, the bill requires foods and dietary supplements that contain more than 10 milligrams of caffeine to be labeled with (1) their total caffeine content, (2) a statement of whether the caffeine is naturally occurring or is an additive, and (3) an advisory statement indicating that the recommended daily limit of caffeine for healthy adults is 400 milligrams.
Further, in restaurant chains with 20 or more locations, menus must indicate that an item contains high caffeine where the item contains added caffeine and has a total caffeine content of at least 150 milligrams. Restaurants must place the statement “high caffeine” or a similar indication adjacent to the name of a covered item on the menu. This requirement applies to both standard and temporary menu items.
For standard menu items, the bill also expands the nutritional information that restaurants must make available to consumers in written form to include the number of milligrams of caffeine in an item.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) must review the safety of caffeine and other stimulants in food, beverages, and dietary supplements and determine whether caffeine should be generally recognized as safe (GRAS) for healthy adults. (Currently, the FDA considers caffeine as GRAS for cola beverages up to a level of 0.02%.)
Finally, the Government Accountability Office must study and report to Congress on the marketing of caffeinated beverages in restaurants, stores, and online.
Text of the bill
(a) Information required To be disclosed by restaurants and retail food establishments
(1) In general. Section 403(q)(5)(H) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 343(q)(5)(H)) is amended—
(A) by amending subclause (i) to read as follows:
(i) General requirements for restaurants and similar retail food establishments
(I) Standard menu items. Except for food described in subclause (vii), 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).
(II) Temporary menu items
(aa) In general. In the case of food that is a temporary 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 subclause (ii)(III).
(bb) Temporary menu item defined. In this item, the term temporary menu item means a food that appears on a menu or menu board for less than a total of 60 days per calendar year. The 60 days includes the total of consecutive and non-consecutive days the item appears on the menu.
(B) in subclause (ii)—
(i) by redesignating items (III) and (IV) as items (IV) and (V), respectively, and moving the margins of such items 2 ems to the right;
(ii) by inserting after item (II) the following:
(III) in the case of a standard menu item or temporary menu item that contains any added caffeine (as the Secretary shall by regulation define) and at least 150 milligrams of total caffeine per serving, the statement ‘High caffeine’, or such other similar statement or symbol as the Secretary determines appropriate, adjacent to the name of the standard menu item or temporary menu item, so as to be clearly associated with such menu item, on the menu listing the item for sale and on the menu board, including a drive through menu board;
; and
(iii) in item (IV) (as so redesignated), by inserting before the semicolon the following: and the number of milligrams of caffeine in the item; and
(C) in subclause (vii)(I), by striking Subclauses (i) through (vi) and inserting Subject to subclause (i)(II), subclauses (i) through (vi).
(2) Conforming amendments. Section 403(q)(5) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 343(q)(5)) is amended—
(A) in clause (A)—
(i) in subclause (i), by striking clause (H)(ii)(III) and inserting clause (H)(ii)(IV); and
(ii) in subclause (ii), by striking clause (H)(ii)(III) and inserting clause (H)(ii)(IV); and
(B) in clause (H)—
(i) in subclause (ii)(V) (as redesignated by subsection (a)(1)(B)(i) of this section), by striking item (III) and inserting item (IV);
(ii) in subclause (vi), by striking subclause (ii)(III) each place it appears and inserting subclause (ii)(IV); and
(iii) in subclause (vii)(II), by striking subclauses (ii)(III) and (vi) and inserting subclauses (ii)(IV) and (vi).
(b) Caffeine labeling requirements for food and dietary supplements. Section 403 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 343) is amended by adding at the end the following:
(z) If it is a food (including a dietary supplement) that contains more than 10 milligrams of caffeine, unless the label of such food includes—
(1) the number of milligrams of caffeine in the food;
(2) a statement of whether the caffeine in the food is naturally occurring or an additive; and
(3) an advisory statement indicating that the daily recommended limit of caffeine for healthy adults is 400 milligrams (or such other limit as the Secretary determines appropriate).