New Jersey S 2811: Requires restaurants to provide alternative menu for individuals with diabetes.

Bill Text

S2811 

SENATE, No. 2811 

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

� 

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION

Sponsored by:

Senator ANGELA V. MCKNIGHT

District 31 (Hudson)

SYNOPSIS

���� Requires restaurants to provide alternative menu for 
individuals with diabetes.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT 

���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative 
Counsel.

�� 

An Act concerning restaurants and diabetes and supplementing 
Title 26 of the Revised Statutes.

���� Be It 
Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of 
the State of New Jersey:

���� 1.��� a.� The Commissioner of 
Health, in consultation with the New Jersey Restaurant Association, shall 
prepare a fact sheet, to be directed to restaurant owners, managers, and staff, 
which is designed to explain the impact of diet on the health of individuals 
with diabetes and include information to assist restaurants in preparing an 
alternative menu for individuals with diabetes pursuant to subsection b. of 
this section. 

���� b.��� A restaurant operating 
within the State shall make available, upon request of the customer, an 
alternative menu for individuals with diabetes.� Within six months after the 
menu is available, a restaurant shall indicate on its regular menu and public 
display menu sign that a menu for individuals with diabetes is available upon 
request.

���� c.��� A restaurant found in 
violation of subsection b. of this section shall be subject to a civil penalty 
of up to $500 per violation.� A civil penalty imposed pursuant to this section 
may be collected with costs in a summary proceeding pursuant to the �Penalty 
Enforcement Law of 1999,� P.L.1999, c.274 (C.2A:58-10 et seq.).� The 
commissioner or a local board of health or local health officer may initiate a 
summary proceeding in the Superior Court or in the appropriate municipal court 
having jurisdiction.

���� Every day upon which a 
violation occurs shall be considered a separate violation, but a penalty shall 
not be assessed that is greater than $5,000 for each occurrence. 

���� d.��� For purposes of this 
section, �restaurant� means an establishment in which the principal business is 
the sale of food for consumption on the premises.

���� 2.��� This act shall take 
effect on the first day of the fourth month next following the date of 
enactment, but the Commissioner of Health may take such administrative action 
prior to the effective date as necessary to effectuate the provisions of this 
act.

STATEMENT

���� This bill requires that 
restaurants provide, upon request, alternative menus for individuals with 
diabetes. 

���� Under the bill, the 
Commissioner of Health, in consultation with the New Jersey Restaurant 
Association, would be required to prepare a fact sheet to be directed to 
restaurant owners, managers, and staff, which is designed to explain the impact 
of diet on the health of individuals with diabetes and include information to 
assist restaurants in preparing an alternative menu for individuals with 
diabetes.

���� In addition, the bill requires 
that restaurants operating within the State make available, upon the request of 
the customer, an alternative menu for individuals with diabetes.� The bill 
provides that within six months after the menu is available, a restaurant is to 
indicate on its regular menu and public display menu sign that a menu for 
individuals with diabetes is available upon request.

���� A restaurant in violation of 
the menu requirements imposed by the bill would be subject to a civil penalty 
of up to $500 per violation.� The Commissioner of Health or a local board of 
health or local health officer may initiate a summary proceeding in the 
Superior Court or in the appropriate municipal court having jurisdiction.� 
Every day upon which a violation occurs would be considered a separate 
violation but no penalty would be assessed that is greater than $5,000 for each 
occurrence.