Youngstown, OH Public Health Rules: Calorie Labeling (2026)
Key Facts
- Applies to
- Food service operations selling children's meals
- Default milk cap
- 150 calories per container/serving
- Default juice size
- 8 ounces, 100% juice, no added sugar
- Customer override
- Substitute beverage allowed on request
- Enacted
- Ordinance 21-287, passed October 6, 2021
- Penalty
- Minor misdemeanor under §1715.99
Summary
In the City of Youngstown, Ohio, a restaurant offering a children's meal cannot bundle in a sugary default drink. The Board of Health's ordinance caps the automatic beverage at water, low-fat milk with no more than 150 calories per serving, or 100% juice in an 8-ounce size, unless the customer specifically asks for something else.
"Children's Meal" means a combination of food items and a beverage that is prepared by and offered for purchase at a food service operation as a unit at a single price and is primarily intended for consumption by children. B ... everage Limitation. No food service operation shall offer a children's meal that includes a beverage unless the beverage is: ... Nonfat or one (1) percent mild or a non-dairy milk alternative containing no more than one hundred fifty (150) calories per container or serving as offered for sale; or ... One hundred percent (100%) fruit juice or fruit juice combined with water or carbonated water, with no added sweeteners, in a serving size of no more than eight (8) ounces. ... Exception. Upon a customer's request, a food service operation may sell, and a customer may purchase, a substitute or alternative beverage instead of the beverages offered pursuant to division (b) of this section.
Full Breakdown
Youngstown Codified Ordinances Section 1715.061, added by Ordinance 21-287 on October 6, 2021, regulates the beverage that comes bundled with a 'children's meal,' defined as a combination of food items and a beverage sold as a unit at a single price and primarily intended for children. Section 1715.061(b) says a food service operation cannot offer such a meal with a beverage unless it is water, sparkling or flavored water with no added sweeteners; nonfat or 1% milk, or a non-dairy alternative, containing no more than 150 calories per container or serving as sold; or 100% fruit juice, or juice combined with water, with no added sweeteners, in a serving no larger than 8 ounces.
Section 1715.061(c) lets a customer ask for a different beverage instead, so the calorie cap only governs the default option on the menu, not what a customer can order. Section 1715.061(d) requires the Board of Health to make educational material available on limiting a child's sugary-drink intake, and Section 1715.061(e) treats a posted menu that lists a children's meal with a compliant default beverage as 'prima facie evidence of compliance' with the section. The ordinance sits inside Chapter 1715, Food Establishments and Service Operations, so a violation is enforced the same way as other food-service violations in that chapter: a minor misdemeanor under Section 1715.99, with each day of a continuing violation charged separately.
Violations & Fines
Offering a children's meal with a default beverage that is not water, low-fat/non-dairy milk capped at 150 calories per serving, or 8-ounce 100% juice violates Section 1715.061(b); a customer may still request a substitute beverage under Section 1715.061(c). Violating this section, like other Chapter 1715 provisions, is a minor misdemeanor under Section 1715.99, with each day of continued violation a separate offense.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a Youngstown restaurant automatically give soda with a kids' meal?
Can I still order a different drink with my child's meal?
Does this Youngstown rule require menus to post calorie counts?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Youngstown
Compare Youngstown to another location·View the Ohio public health rules overview
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