Today, no state requires restaurants to identify highly caffeinated beverages on their menus. That could soon change, as lawmakers in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, and Delaware consider legislation requiring certain food establishments to flag beverages containing high levels of caffeine on menus or menu boards. The proposals differ in their thresholds, covered products, and disclosure requirements. Several also reach well beyond menus to conventional-food labels, Supplement Facts labeling, retail signage, websites, mobile applications, and, in at least one instance, the sale of caffeinated products to minors.
Existing federal law requires packaged conventional foods to identify caffeine when added as a separate ingredient but does not require disclosure of the precise amount. Dietary supplements generally must declare the quantity of caffeine listed as an individual dietary ingredient, but caffeine can still escape a clear total-caffeine declaration when it is naturally present in coffee, guarana, green tea, yerba mate, or another botanical ingredient, or when it is included in a proprietary blend for which only the total blend weight must be disclosed. Federal restaurant menu-labeling rules likewise do not require caffeine disclosures, although covered chains must provide calorie and other specified nutritional information. The state proposals could create new compliance obligations for restaurant chains, coffee shops, beverage companies, dietary supplement manufacturers, retailers, franchises, and digital ordering platforms. As a result, federal law does not consistently require disclosure of total caffeine from all sources across conventional foods and dietary supplements.
FDA has separately identified caffeine-content labeling as a federal priority. In June 2026, the agency placed draft guidance on "Labeling Caffeine Content in Foods and Beverages" on its Human Foods Program guidance agenda. Because guidance cannot establish binding labeling requirements, however, it would not by itself create a uniform national disclosure standard or necessarily prevent states from adopting their own requirements. The title of the planned guidance also leaves open whether FDA intends to address dietary supplements or only conventional foods and beverages.
Key Takeaways
- States are considering warning mandates for "high caffeine" products. Pending legislation in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, and Delaware would require certain food establishments to identify beverages containing high levels of caffeine, but the proposals use different caffeine thresholds and cover different products.
- Compliance requirements would vary by state. The proposals differ in which businesses and beverages are covered, where warnings must appear, and how violations would be enforced.
- Some proposals extend beyond restaurant menus. New York's legislation would also impose labeling requirements on certain foods and dietary supplements, including prescribed advisory statements, while Delaware lawmakers have separately considered an age-of-sale restriction and, later, voluntary in-store warning signage for energy drinks and caffeinated dietary supplements.
- FDA has signaled interest, but guidance alone will not end the patchwork. FDA has placed draft caffeine-labeling guidance on its 2026 agenda, but nonbinding guidance cannot establish uniform national requirements absent regulation or legislation.
New Jersey and Pennsylvania Consider Warnings on Restaurant Menus
New Jersey lawmakers are considering similar proposals that now differ in important respects. Senate Bill 4183 would require covered retail food establishments to flag beverages containing at least 80 milligrams of total caffeine per serving, with warnings appearing directly next to the beverage on menus, including drive-through menu boards. Assembly Bill 3259 originally used the same 80-milligram threshold, but an Assembly committee amended the bill in October 2026 to raise the threshold to 200 milligrams, limit coverage to chain restaurants with 20 or more locations nationally, and exclude beverages containing naturally occurring caffeine, including coffee, tea, and cocoa. Under the amended Assembly bill, the disclosure requirement would apply to beverages where caffeine has been intentionally added or chemically synthesized to increase the beverage's total caffeine content beyond naturally occurring levels. Both proposals provide for penalties of $200 to $500 for a first offense and $500 to $1,000 for subsequent offenses. As introduced, the bills expressly disclaim a private right of action while preserving claims otherwise available under New Jersey law and would preempt local ordinances regulating these disclosures.
Pennsylvania's HB 2377, the proposed Sarah Katz Caffeine Safety Law, would require retail food facilities to identify beverages containing at least 250 milligrams of caffeine per serving as "high caffeine" or with another warning, icon, or symbol approved by the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture. Lawmakers increased the threshold from 80 milligrams as part of June 2026 amendments to the bill. The disclosure would have to appear directly next to the beverage on the menu or menu board.
Enforcement would fall to existing food-safety licensing authorities, which would provide written notice and 30 days to correct a suspected violation. Continued violations could trigger penalties under Pennsylvania's existing food-safety laws, including civil penalties of up to $10,000 per offense for retail food facilities under the jurisdiction of the Department of Agriculture. The bill does not expressly create a private right of action.
New York's Proposed Legislation Would Reach Beyond Restaurant Menus
New York's S9158 would impose caffeine disclosure requirements on chain food-service establishments with at least 20 New York locations operating under the same name and offering substantially similar food items. Covered chains would have to flag menu items containing added caffeine or at least 150 milligrams of total caffeine per serving, disclose their caffeine content in milligrams, post a prescribed safety warning, and offer a separate caffeine-free options menu.
The bill's labeling provisions are the more significant development, potentially affecting manufacturers and sellers of packaged foods and dietary supplements. Products containing more than 10 milligrams of caffeine would have to disclose total caffeine, identify it as naturally occurring or added, and state that 400 milligrams is the "recommended daily limit" for healthy adults. Products exceeding 100 milligrams per serving would carry additional cardiovascular language and a statement that the product is "not recommended for sale" to persons under 18. Products with added caffeine or at least 150 milligrams per serving would also receive a "high caffeine" designation on websites and mobile applications, along with an advisory that they are not recommended for children.
Several of these statements warrant attention. For instance, the FDA does not describe 400 milligrams as a recommended daily limit; rather, it has stated that, for most healthy adults, 400 milligrams per day is an amount not generally associated with negative effects. And although "not recommended for sale to persons under eighteen" is not an age-of-sale prohibition, it would place a retail-sales recommendation on the product label—language that could become a de facto retailer standard and a reference point for consumer claims. These features raise questions about federal preemption and about whether the prescribed statements are sufficiently factual and uncontroversial to support compelled commercial speech.
Delaware's Proposed Legislation Would More Narrowly Target Certain Caffeinated Beverages
Delaware's House Substitute 1 for HB 396 (HS1 for HB 396), which advanced in committee in June 2026, would require retail food establishments with at least 20 Delaware locations to place warning symbols next to qualifying high-caffeine hand-crafted beverages and energy drinks. The bill defines a high-caffeine hand-crafted beverage as one exceeding 100 milligrams of caffeine per serving. HS1 for HB 396 excludes beverages that solely contain caffeine brewed, steeped, or derived from coffee or tea and exempts alcoholic beverages and establishments that sell alcohol. The Division of Public Health would provide written notice of violations, and establishments would have 90 days to cure a first or second violation.
Delaware lawmakers have also considered a separate retail-signage measure, House Substitute 1 for HB 394 (HS1 for HB 394). As amended and passed by the House, the measure would require the Division of Public Health to make warning signage available and would encourage—but not require—retailers to display it near energy drinks and caffeinated dietary supplements. The bill, which addresses consumption by children, caffeine-sensitive individuals, and pregnant or nursing individuals, is now before the Senate Health & Social Services Committee.
The bill's legislative history is nevertheless significant. As originally introduced, HB 394 would have prohibited sales to persons under 18 of defined energy drinks and caffeinated dietary supplements containing at least 100 milligrams of caffeine per serving. The substitute converted that ban into mandatory signage, and the House amendment then converted mandatory display into voluntary display. Although Delaware retreated from an age-of-sale restriction this session, the bill shows that such restrictions are already being tested legislatively.
A Broader Federal Labeling Question
These proposals may be an early sign of a broader shift in caffeine regulation. The same amount of caffeine can be sold as a conventional food, dietary supplement, or OTC stimulant drug, yet the quantitative disclosures and warnings required at the point of purchase differ materially by category. FDA has placed draft guidance on caffeine-content labeling on its 2026 agenda, but guidance cannot establish binding national requirements. Unless FDA undertakes notice-and-comment rulemaking—and Congress addresses the limits of federal preemption—manufacturers, restaurants, retailers, and online platforms may face a growing patchwork of state requirements governing package labels, menu disclosures, retail signage, digital sales, and youth access.
A federal framework could require disclosure of total caffeine from all sources in milligrams per serving and, where appropriate, per container; establish a scientifically supported threshold for a standardized warning; and address cumulative intake and consumption by children, pregnant or nursing consumers, and caffeine-sensitive individuals. FDA's OTC stimulant-drug labeling requirements and existing industry guidelines provide useful starting points, although a food-labeling rule should not simply import drug-specific instructions intended for products marketed as alertness aids.
Preemption is also likely to shape how these proposals play out. FD&C Act section 403A expressly preempts certain state ingredient and nutrition-labeling requirements that are not identical to federal requirements, but the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act's savings provision states that this preemption should not be construed to apply to a state-required warning concerning the safety of a food or food component. To the extent the proposals require quantitative caffeine disclosures, source declarations, or other information beyond federal food- and menu-labeling requirements, they may raise federal preemption questions distinct from those presented by a state safety-warning requirement—and a single statute, such as New York's, may present both.
The use of "high" may raise an additional issue. FDA has defined "high" as a nutrient content claim and does not permit characterizing claims for substances, such as caffeine, that lack a Reference Daily Intake or Daily Reference Value. A state-mandated "high caffeine" designation on food or supplement labels may therefore conflict with FD&C Act sections 403(r) and 403A(a)(5), even where a factual statement of caffeine content would not.
Different States, Different Standards
The proposals illustrate the different approaches states are considering for imposing warnings for caffeinated products. New York would combine restaurant requirements with broader package-labeling and digital-disclosure provisions, and Delaware has moved toward a narrower regime focused on hand-crafted beverages and energy drinks while also testing, and retreating from, youth-access restrictions. The proposals also differ in the businesses and products they cover, where disclosures must appear, and how violations would be enforced.
What Companies Should Do Now
Companies should inventory caffeine-containing products across legal categories and sales channels, determine total caffeine from all sources (including naturally occurring caffeine and proprietary blends), assess per-serving and per-container exposure, and ensure that validated caffeine information can be deployed consistently across physical labels, menus, retail signage, websites, mobile applications, and third-party delivery platforms.
The Venable team can assist restaurants, beverage and food companies, dietary supplement manufacturers, retailers, and other businesses with assessing these developments, evaluating preemption and labeling questions, and preparing for new caffeine disclosure, labeling, and youth-access requirements.