Sesame has been a federally recognized major food allergen since January 1, 2023 — but the FASTER Act's labeling mandate applies to packaged food, not restaurant menus. Here's what actually changes for a kitchen.
What the FASTER Act Actually Changed
The Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act of 2004 (FALCPA) originally identified eight major food allergens requiring mandatory declaration on packaged food labels: milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, and soybeans. On April 23, 2021, the Food Allergy Safety, Treatment, Education, and Research (FASTER) Act added sesame as the ninth major allergen, amending the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. The change took effect January 1, 2023 — all FDA requirements applicable to major food allergens, including labeling and manufacturing controls, now apply to sesame exactly as they do to the original eight.
Foods already in interstate commerce before January 1, 2023 — including product already on retail shelves — did not need to be pulled or relabeled, which means some legacy packaged inventory may not carry a sesame declaration even now, depending on shelf life.
Where This Applies — and Where It Doesn't
FALCPA and the FASTER Act govern labeling of packaged foods regulated by the FDA — think a bottled sauce, a bagged snack, or a prepared item sold at retail. A dine-in restaurant menu is not itself a "food label" under FALCPA, so a sit-down restaurant serving a dish containing sesame tahini is not federally mandated by FALCPA to print an allergen declaration on the menu the way a packaged food manufacturer must. Menu allergen disclosure for restaurants is instead typically driven by state or local health codes, or by voluntary industry practice — many chains disclose allergens anyway because it reduces liability and customer risk, not because FALCPA itself compels it at the table.
Where FALCPA does apply directly to a restaurant operation: any pre-packaged item the restaurant sells for retail takeaway (a bottled house dressing, a packaged baked good, a grab-and-go sandwich) is a packaged food label in the FDA's eyes, and sesame must be declared on it exactly as it would be for any other manufacturer.
Declaration Format
Where a sesame declaration is required, it must use the plain-language common name "sesame" — either within the ingredient list (e.g., "tahini (sesame)") or in a separate "Contains" statement immediately following the ingredient list. A "Contains" statement must be complete; declaring some allergens there while omitting others is not compliant. Generic terms don't satisfy the requirement — a tree nut or fish/shellfish allergen declaration must name the specific species or variety, not simply "nuts" or "fish."
Cross-Contact Is the Practical Risk, Regardless of Labeling Law
Whether or not a menu carries a formal allergen declaration, cross-contact remains the real operational risk: a knife or cutting board used for hummus or tahini, then reused for another dish without cleaning, can transfer sesame protein to food that otherwise contains none. This is a kitchen protocol issue, not a labeling one — the practical fix is the same regardless of what FALCPA technically requires: dedicated equipment or a documented cleaning step between sesame-containing and sesame-free prep, and a kitchen team that understands sesame carries the same severity risk as any of the other eight major allergens.
What This Means for Your Restaurant
- Check whether you sell any pre-packaged retail items — those need a compliant sesame declaration now if they contain it.
- Update your internal allergen matrix to include sesame as a full major allergen, not an afterthought under "may contain" language.
- Review kitchen cross-contact protocols specifically for sesame-heavy prep (tahini, hummus, sesame oil, seed garnishes).
- Check your state and local health code for any menu disclosure requirements that go beyond the federal FALCPA baseline.
Our Allergen Menu Labeling Generator can help map your actual ingredients against the current major allergen list, sesame included.