FDA 2026 Food Code and Sesame: Allergen Disclosure Moves to Menus

On September 17, 2026, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration published the 2026 Food Code, refining commercial kitchen protocols for allergen cross-contact and employee illness. Days earlier, updated Virginia food regulations took effect that add sesame as a major allergen and, according to local reporting, require food establishments to disclose major allergens through the menu, a handout or a QR code.

Key takeaways:

• On September 17, 2026, the FDA issued its 2026 Food Code, providing updated guidance on preventing allergen cross-contact in retail and dining operations.
• Virginia's updated food regulations (12VAC5-421), reported as taking effect around September 10, 2026, add sesame as a major allergen and require allergen disclosure for packaged and unpackaged food.
• While federal packaging laws have mandated sesame labeling on grocery shelves since January 1, 2023, restaurant allergen rules depend on which Food Code edition each state adopts.
• Diners with food allergies can ask for the allergen handout or QR code where these rules apply, but disclosure does not remove cross-contact risk.

What happened in the latest allergen updates?

On September 17, 2026, the FDA officially released the 2026 Food Code, setting new model benchmarks for retail food safety, institutional dining, and commercial restaurant management. The Food Code serves as the federal model that state, local, tribal, and territorial regulatory agencies adapt into legally binding regional health codes. This edition includes clarifications on allergen cross-contact.

One day earlier, on September 16, 2026, the FDA released a report on food safety risk factors in retail delis, based on data collected from 2019 to 2022, which found that improper holding time and temperature and poor personal hygiene were among the most common problems.

At the state level, meaningful operational changes are already active. Under the official regulatory text recorded in the Virginia Administrative Code, Virginia published a fast-track update to its Food Regulations (12VAC5-421) in July 2026 that implements the 2022 FDA Food Code. Local reporting (WYDaily, September 10, 2026) says the updated rules make sesame the ninth major food allergen for Virginia food establishments.

According to the same reporting, establishments must disclose major allergens for both packaged and unpackaged food, through the menu, a handout or a QR code.

What changed for restaurant allergen rules?

The release of the 2026 Food Code by the FDA introduces several operational modifications designed to minimize foodborne illness and accidental allergen exposure. Most notably, the 2026 Food Code provides sharpened language on preventing allergen cross-contact during active food preparation. It also allows double gloving in some situations, requires written employee-illness policies, and adds an alternative cooling method.

In Virginia, the practical change is that allergen information has to be available in a written or scannable form, rather than depending on whoever answers the question at the counter.

Operators can choose the format: the menu, a handout or a QR code. Trade reporting also describes separate 2026 Virginia legislation on multilingual allergen signage and on marking orders with substituted items, the latter expected in 2027.

These operational changes bridge a long-standing regulatory gap between commercial grocery items and freshly prepared foodservice. Consumers can review how packaged shelf staples approach allergen labeling in Are Stacy's Pita Chips Clean? Every Ingredient, Scanned, where ingredient lists are fixed rather than dynamically assembled by line cooks.

Who is affected by these dining mandates?

The combination of the FDA's 2026 Food Code release and Virginia's updated public health rules affects distinct consumer groups, commercial establishments, and regulatory bodies across the country:

• Food establishments: Restaurants, cafeteria systems, commercial delis, catering operations, bakeries, and long-term care dietary kitchens operating in jurisdictions enforcing these updated standards.
• Food-allergic individuals: adults and children with allergies to sesame, peanuts, tree nuts, milk, eggs, wheat, soy, fish or crustacean shellfish.
• Commercial kitchen staff: Line cooks, servers, shift managers, and certified food protection managers responsible for preventing cross-contact during peak prep hours.
• Retail delis: grocery counters that slice meats, assemble sandwiches and package foods on site.

For consumers with sesame allergies, this shift addresses one of the most hazardous dining environments. Sesame seeds, sesame paste, and sesame oil are frequently used in marinades, dressings, and baked goods without obvious visual cues. Without a written disclosure, finding it depends on asking, and on the answer being right.

What it means for shoppers and diners?

For shoppers and diners, reading a menu now increasingly mirrors reading a grocery label, but significant practical differences remain. Packaged foods sold at retail are strictly governed by federal labeling laws. When shopping down grocery aisles, you should look for the mandatory 'Contains' statement or inspect the ingredient list directly to spot the 9 major allergens.

In contrast, restaurant dining requires active consumer engagement with new disclosure tools:

• Look for disclosures: in Virginia and other places with similar rules, check the menu for allergen notes.
• Request the matrix: If a menu does not display icons, ask staff for the physical allergen handout or scan the establishment's QR code to pull up the complete allergen matrix.
• Clarify cross-contact limits: Regulatory disclosures indicate recipe ingredients, but shared fryers, grills, and cutting boards still present cross-contact risks that standard disclosure sheets do not eliminate.
• Remember advisory limits: Advisory labels like 'may contain' or 'processed in a facility with' are voluntary and not standardized, meaning their absence on packaged food does not guarantee zero trace exposure.

What current clinical evidence cannot establish is the absolute personal tolerance threshold for every sensitized individual. Regulators define major allergens and cross-contact handling standards, but individual reactions vary widely, from mild symptoms to anaphylaxis. Diners must exercise personal precautions when dining outside controlled home kitchens.

The background behind sesame disclosure laws?

To understand why Virginia's September 10, 2026 rule and the FDA's September 17, 2026 model Food Code are so consequential, consumers must look at how federal allergen legislation developed over the last two decades. In 2004, Congress passed the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act, widely known as FALCPA. FALCPA required packaged foods to declare eight major food allergens in plain language.

Sesame was noticeably absent from FALCPA. In April 2021, the federal government enacted the Food Allergy Safety, Treatment, Education, and Research Act, known as the FASTER Act. Under the FASTER Act, sesame officially became the 9th major food allergen on packaged food labels starting on January 1, 2023. Packaged foods shipped in interstate commerce were required to list sesame plainly in their ingredient lists or within an explicit Contains line.

These federal requirements apply to packaged foods regulated by the FDA. Restaurant meals, institutional dining halls, and retail delis remained under the legal jurisdiction of state and local health departments. The FDA publishes the model Food Code to encourage uniformity, but states adopt each edition on their own timelines; the summary of changes in the 2022 Food Code is what Virginia is now implementing.

After the 2023 sesame labeling requirement, some manufacturers were widely reported to have added sesame to products deliberately and labeled it, rather than clean shared lines, which reduced choices for people with sesame allergy. For restaurants, state adoption of the Food Code is the main route to allergen disclosure when eating out.

What to watch next in food safety regulations?

State, local, tribal and territorial regulators will now review the newly published 2026 Food Code to decide whether to incorporate its cross-contact standards and written health policy mandates into their regional administrative laws.

In Virginia, watch for the separate legislation on multilingual allergen signage and on marking substituted orders, reported as expected in 2027.

Consumers should also monitor retail deli compliance. Following the FDA's September 16, 2026 retail deli study identifying holding temperature and hygiene lapses, the question is whether inspectors focus on the problems the report identified.