Consumer Advisories

A consumer advisory is a publicly available written statement that informs consumers that a ready-to-eat food of animal origin is raw, undercooked, or not otherwise processed to eliminate disease causing organisms. It lets consumers know that the food poses a risk.

A consumer advisory must be included on the printed menu or on whatever signage consumers read to make their food selections. The advisory must be readily accessible to consumers (without consumers having to request it) before placing food orders or making selections.

The intent of the consumer advisory is to assure that all consumers are informed about the increased risk of eating raw or undercooked animal foods. Armed with the right information, informed consumers are best able to assess their individual risk and assume responsibility for their ordering decisions.

No. Only food establishment operators who choose to serve raw or undercooked foods of animal origin are required to have a consumer advisory.

Please note: beef steak that is labeled as “whole muscle intact beef” where by the top and bottom surfaces are cooked to achieve a color change (145°F), does not require a consumer advisory.

Yes. Food facilities that serve food to a highly susceptible population are not permitted to use a consumer advisory. Foods of animal origin cannot be served raw or undercooked in these facilities.

A consumer advisory consists of two parts: a disclosure and a reminder.

The disclosure must indicate if foods of animal origin (including ingredients or individual components of a dish) are served raw or undercooked.

The reminder is a written statement that speaks to the potential health risk of consuming raw or undercooked animal foods.

• The language (English, Spanish, Chinese, etc) for the advisory must match the language used for the rest of the menu. Additional languages may also be used if desired.
• The text size must be visually equivalent to or at least 11 point font or visually equivalent to the font size of the menu item descriptions.
• The text color must provide a clear contrast to the background.

Step One: Review Your Menu

Determine which foods of animal origin on your menu are being served in a ready-to-eat raw or undercooked form.

Step Two: Write The Disclosure

The foods identified in the first step will require a written disclosure on your menu. The disclosure can be made using one of the following methods:

In the menu description, include that the food item is (or contains) raw or undercooked animal food. Examples of this method include dish descriptions like “Raw oysters on the half shell”, “Raw egg Caesar Salad”, “Hamburgers can be cooked to order” or “Eggs cooked to order”.

Place an asterisk next to the food item requiring disclosure. Then, include a footnote on the bottom of any page of the menu that can be easily located by the consumer. The footnote must indicate the asterisked items are served raw or undercooked; contain or may contain raw or undercooked ingredients; may be requested undercooked; or can be cooked to order.

When the menu has a section of common food items that may be served raw or undercooked (e.g., hamburgers), you can provide one disclosure for the entire section. It is not necessary to provide a disclosure for each individual item within the section (e.g., cheeseburgers, bacon burgers, mushroom burgers, etc.).

Step Three: Write the Reminder

Finally, you will need to include a reminder about the risk of consuming raw or undercooked foods. You can use one of these three methods to issue the reminder:

Footnote: You must place an asterisk alongside items requiring disclosure on the menu that is linked to a footnote on the bottom of any page of the menu that can be easily located by the consumer. The footnote must state one of the following reminders:

• Consuming raw or undercooked meats, poultry, seafood, shellfish, or eggs may increase your risk of foodborne illness.
• Consuming raw or undercooked meats, poultry, seafood, shellfish, or eggs may increase your risk of foodborne illness, especially if you have a medical condition.
• Regarding the safety of these items, written information is available upon request. (The preferred written information is the United States Food and Drug Administration’s model consumer advisory brochure available from the Allegheny County Health Department.)

Brochure: The reminder can be made available in the form of a brochure that is separate from the menu; however, the disclosure must still be on the menu.

Placard: The reminder may also be provided to the public on a placard, table tent, or other written means using the reminder statements listed above; however, the disclosure must still be on the menu.

There are several disclosure and reminder combinations that can be used. The following examples show some of the options.

Example A

Disclosure as a description with reminder as a footnote

Menu:

• Chef’s Salad
• Spinach Salad
• Caesar Salad (contains two raw eggs)*

(at bottom of page):
* Consuming raw or undercooked meats, poultry, seafood, shellfish, or eggs may increase your risk of foodborne illness, especially if you have a medical condition.

Example B

Asterisk next to menu item with disclosure and reminder combined at the bottom of the page

Menu:

• Hamburgers*
• Cheeseburger
• Olive Burger
• Bacon Burger
• Hamburger Deluxe

(at bottom of page):
* Hamburgers are cooked to order. Consuming raw or undercooked meats, poultry, seafood, shellfish, or eggs may increase your risk of foodborne illness.

Example C

Disclosure as a description with reminder available as a brochure

Menu:

• Oysters on the Half Shell (raw oysters)*

(at bottom of page):
* Regarding the safety of these items, written information is available upon request.

Operators are expected to begin using the consumer advisory as soon as reasonably possible. If you have any questions, please call us at 412-578-8044.