Restaurant Food Labeling Guide: Date Marking, Allergens, and Labels That Pass Inspection

Restaurant food labeling comes down to three questions an inspector, a manager, or a new cook should be able to answer by glancing at a container: what is it, when was it made or opened, and when does it have to go. The FDA Food Code sets the model rule for the second and third questions (date marking), federal labeling law covers food you package for retail sale, and allergen awareness runs through all of it. This guide explains each requirement, where federal guidance ends and your local code begins, and gives you label formats you can copy today.

Why labeling is a food-safety control, not paperwork

Refrigeration slows bacterial growth; it does not stop it. Listeria monocytogenes in particular can grow at refrigeration temperatures, which is why the FDA Food Code limits how long ready-to-eat food that requires time/temperature control for safety (TCS food) may be held once it is prepared or opened. A date label is the only practical way to enforce that limit when the person who made the food is not the person deciding whether to serve it three days later.

Labels also carry the information staff need to prevent cross-contact with allergens and to rotate stock first-in, first-out. Poor labeling shows up in inspections as expired product on the shelf, unmarked containers, and illegible or contradictory dates — all of which are easy to fix with a consistent standard and hard to fix with reminders.

What the FDA Food Code says about date marking

The core rule is FDA Food Code §3-501.17, Ready-to-Eat, Time/Temperature Control for Safety Food, Date Marking. In plain terms, under the 2022 FDA Food Code (opens in a new tab):

• The rule applies to ready-to-eat TCS food that is prepared and held in the establishment, or opened from a commercially processed package, and held refrigerated for more than 24 hours.
• Such food must be clearly marked to show the date or day by which it must be consumed on the premises, sold, or discarded.
• When held at 41°F (5°C) or less, the maximum holding time is 7 days, and the day of preparation (or opening) counts as day 1.
• If food is combined with other ingredients, the discard date of the earliest-prepared ingredient carries forward — mixing fresh product into old product does not reset the clock.
• Food that is frozen after preparation stops the clock while frozen; when thawed, the label must show how many days were used before freezing so the remaining time is honored (§3-501.17 addresses this scenario specifically).

Section 3-501.18 is the companion rule: food that exceeds its marked date, or that is not marked when it should be, must be discarded. That is the sentence inspectors are enforcing when they write up “expired product in walk-in.”

What the Food Code does not require

The model code does not require date marks on raw proteins that will be cooked, on whole produce, on shelf-stable dry goods, or on TCS food you will use within 24 hours. It also does not require a specific label format, color, or technology. Many operators label more than the minimum because “label everything that goes into a cooler” is far easier to train and audit than “label ready-to-eat TCS food held over 24 hours.” That is a reasonable operational choice, not a legal one.

Where state and local codes differ

Because states adopt the Food Code on their own schedules (the FDA tracks adoption here (opens in a new tab)), your jurisdiction may be enforcing an older edition or its own amendments. Common local variations include:

• Shorter maximum holding windows than 7 days for certain categories.
• Requiring both a prep date and a discard date rather than either one.
• Requiring date marking on additional foods beyond the federal minimum.
• Requiring employee-facing labels to be in a specific language alongside English.

Brand standards for franchised concepts are frequently stricter still (for example, 3-day or 4-day windows for specific menu items). When rules conflict, follow the most restrictive one that applies to you.

What belongs on a prep or storage label

A label that satisfies the Food Code’s date-marking rule and actually helps the crew typically carries the following. The first three are the minimum; the rest are operational best practice.

Sample label formats you can copy

These are formats that work on a 2-inch thermal label or a handwritten day dot. Notice that every one shows the prep date and the discard date: showing both removes the mental math at the moment of decision, which is where most date-marking errors happen.

Prepared item (7-day clock)

CHICKEN SALAD
PREP:    Mon 09/07  2:15 PM   (Day 1)
USE BY:  Sun 09/13  end of day
ALLERGENS: EGG, SOY
Keep at or below 41°F          ___ JM

Opened commercial container

FETA CHEESE (opened)
OPENED:  Tue 09/08          MFR DATE: see lid
USE BY:  Mon 09/14  or manufacturer date,
         whichever comes first
ALLERGENS: MILK                ___ AR

Thawed-from-frozen item

MARINARA — THAWED
PREPPED: 08/28   FROZEN: 08/30  (2 days used)
THAWED:  09/09
USE BY:  09/13  (5 days remaining)
ALLERGENS: none                ___ TB

Time as a public health control

Section 3-501.19 allows an establishment to hold certain TCS food using time instead of temperature (for example, a pizza buffet or a garnish station) if it has written procedures and marks the food with the time it was removed from temperature control and the time it must be discarded. The 4-hour and 6-hour options have different starting conditions; read the section and get your procedures approved by your regulatory authority before you rely on it.

SLICED TOMATOES — TIME CONTROL
OUT OF COOLER:  11:00 AM
DISCARD BY:      3:00 PM  (4 hr)
Do not return to cooler        ___ KP

Allergen labeling in a restaurant

Federal law recognizes nine major food allergens: milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans, and sesame (sesame was added by the FASTER Act, effective January 1, 2023). See FDA’s overview at Food Allergies (opens in a new tab).

Three distinct rules apply, and operators often blur them:

1. Packaged food you sell at retail. If your restaurant packages food for customers to take away and buy off a shelf (grab-and-go sandwiches, bottled sauces), FDA Food Code §3-602.11 requires a label with the common name, ingredients in descending order by weight, quantity, the name and place of business, and major food allergen declarations consistent with federal law. FDA’s Food Labeling Guide (opens in a new tab) is the detailed reference.
2. Staff knowledge. The Food Code requires the person in charge to be able to describe the major food allergens and the symptoms of an allergic reaction (§2-102.11), and requires food employees to be properly trained in food allergy awareness (§2-103.11). Some states add certified allergen training or a required poster.
3. Internal prep labels. There is no federal rule requiring allergens on the label of a hotel pan in your walk-in. Listing them anyway is the single easiest way to help a cook avoid cross-contact during a rush, and many brand standards require it.

Menu labeling is a separate federal rule

Restaurants and similar retail food establishments that are part of a chain with 20 or more locations doing business under the same name and offering substantially the same menu must post calories on menus and menu boards and provide additional written nutrition information on request, under 21 CFR 101.11. This is enforced by FDA rather than your local health department. Details are on FDA’s Menu Labeling Requirements (opens in a new tab) page. Smaller operators are not covered federally, though a handful of states and cities have their own menu labeling rules.

A labeling SOP that survives a Friday night

The rule is simple; execution is where labeling fails. A workable standard operating procedure covers who labels, when, with what, and how it is checked.

• Label at the point of prep, not at the end of the shift. Anything going into a cooler gets its label before the lid goes on.
• Show both dates. Prep/open date and use-by date, always, so nobody counts on their fingers at 6 PM.
• Post the shelf-life list. A laminated or on-screen list of every prepped item and its shelf life, approved by the manager, so the clock length is never a judgment call.
• Standardize placement. Same corner of the container every time, on the container (not the lid, which gets swapped).
• Walk the coolers daily. Pull anything past its date or unlabeled during the opening line check and log what was discarded; see the opening checklist.
• Remove old labels when a container is washed so a clean pan never carries yesterday’s date.
• Audit it. Include unlabeled and expired product as scored items on your food safety self-audit.

Handwritten vs. printed labels

Both can be compliant. Handwritten day dots are cheap and immediate, but they depend on every employee remembering the shelf life, calculating the date correctly, and writing legibly in a cold, wet environment. Printed labels move the shelf-life rule and the date math into the system, so the label is the same whoever prints it. If you are comparing options, our guide to restaurant food labeling systems covers the trade-offs in more detail, and our earlier blog post on why restaurant food labels matter covers the operational side.

What inspectors actually look for

FDA’s Retail Food Risk Factor Studies (opens in a new tab) track how often establishments are out of compliance with the practices most associated with foodborne illness, and date marking has consistently been one of the frequently cited items in full-service restaurants. In practice, a date-marking inspection looks like this:

• Open the walk-in and reach-ins; look for ready-to-eat TCS food with no mark.
• Compare marked dates to today’s date; anything past due is a violation.
• Check that opened commercial containers (deli meats, cheeses, sauces) are marked.
• Ask an employee how the shelf life for an item was determined.
• For time-controlled items, ask to see the written procedure.

A kitchen that shows both dates on every container, has a posted shelf-life list, and can produce a discard log is usually done with this part of the inspection in minutes. Keep the same rigor on temperatures — see the temperature log guide — and the two records reinforce each other.