4.1 Fruits and Vegetables (N01) & Nutritional Transparency (N02)

4.1 Fruits and Vegetables (N01) & Nutritional Transparency (N02)

Core Exam Takeaway: Nourishment is conditional. WELL states that if a project does not sell or provide food daily, it is considered in compliance with the Nourishment concept preconditions. "On a daily basis" means the majority of days in the project's operating week (assessed each week of seasonal operations for seasonal projects). Learn the trigger before the thresholds. Nourishment carries 10 scored exam questions — the second-heaviest concept after Air.

The concept has 2 preconditions (N01, N02) and 11 optimizations (N03–N13), plus a beta feature N14 Red and Processed Meats which is not assessable.

Whose food counts

Foods and beverages supplied by the project owner, or by a vendor under contract with the project owner, are in scope — restaurants, cafeterias, cafés, vending machines and kitchen pantry items. Anything occupants bring in for personal consumption is out of scope. Features that apply to commercial dining spaces require on-site food preparation and/or full-service dining, typically a commercial kitchen and food service staff; projects without those facilities are not eligible to pursue those features.

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Feature N01: Fruits and Vegetables — Precondition

Intent: promote consumption of fruits and vegetables by increasing their availability and accessibility.

N01 Part 1 — Provide Fruits and Vegetables

[!IMPORTANT] Three precise qualifiers do the work here. The requirement is per food outlet, not per project. Fruits must contain no added sugar — canned peaches in syrup do not count. Vegetables must be non-fried, so french fries and potato chips are excluded. Deep-frying adds substantial caloric density and generates oxidized lipids and acrylamide, which is why WELL disqualifies fried preparations rather than merely discouraging them.

N01 Part 2 — Promote Fruit and Vegetable Visibility

For all spaces — Option 1: Fruit and vegetable promotion. Fruits and vegetables meet one of:

• (a) Placed at eye-level or just below eye-level
• (b) Displayed on the countertop, table or other visible surface
• (c) Placed at point-of-sale or point-of-purchase
• (d) Placed at the end of aisles
• (e) Placed at the beginning of food service lines
• (f) Visible from the food outlet entrance

For commercial dining spaces — Option 1: Healthy menu design. Fruits and vegetables are presented on menus and menu boards, including digital menus, using at least three of five strategies:

• (a) Included as default options throughout the menu
• (b) Listed using appealing descriptions
• (c) Visually highlighted through icons, different colors or bolding
• (d) Listed first in each menu section
• (e) Listed in prominent areas of the menu (top, bottom, corners)

WELL Core guidance for both parts: non-leased spaces.

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|                  N01 PART 2: TWO DIFFERENT COMPLIANCE TESTS                 |
|                                                                             |
|   ORDINARY FOOD OUTLET            COMMERCIAL DINING SPACE                   |
|   (vending, pantry, cafe)         (on-site prep / full service)             |
|                                                                             |
|   Choose ONE of SIX               Choose at least THREE of FIVE             |
|   PHYSICAL placements             MENU-DESIGN strategies                    |
|                                                                             |
|   -> It is about where the        -> It is about how the menu reads          |
|      food physically sits                                                    |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+

[!TIP] "At eye-level or just below eye-level" is WELL's actual wording. Do not attach a numeric height range to it — the standard sets none. Choice architecture research consistently finds that eye-level and end-of-aisle placement raise selection rates without restricting choice, which is exactly the mechanism N01 Part 2 buys.

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Feature N02: Nutritional Transparency — Precondition

Intent: help individuals make informed food choices through nutritional labeling and allergy information.

N02 Part 1 — Provide Nutritional Information

For all spaces. If packaged foods and beverages — including items in vending machines and self-service bulk foods — are sold or provided daily, the following is clearly displayed at point-of-decision on packaging or adjacent signage:

• (a) Total calories per serving or package
• (b) Macronutrient content — total protein, total fat and total carbohydrate — in weight and/or as a percent of estimated daily requirements (daily values) per serving or package
• (c) Total sugar content per serving or package

For commercial dining spaces. For standard menu items:

• (a) The number of calories in each standard menu item, as usually prepared and offered for sale, is clearly displayed on menus and menu boards
• (b) Macronutrient content and total sugar content of each standard menu item is available upon request

[!WARNING] N02 Part 1 requires calories, the three macronutrients, and total sugar — it does not require dietary fiber or sodium labeling. And in commercial dining spaces only calories must be on the menu board; macronutrients and sugar need only be available on request. Over-stating the requirement is the most common error on this feature.

N02 Part 2 — Address Food Allergens

For commercial dining spaces, where food is prepared on-site daily:

Option 1: Food allergy training.

• (a) All food service staff — including managers, servers and kitchen staff — are offered annual food allergy training covering, at minimum: overview of food allergies; anaphylaxis; emergency response; communications protocols; reducing risk for cross-contact; use of recipes and ingredient disclosure; and a knowledge test.
• (b) During hours of operation, at least one staff member with food allergy training within the past year is present to handle questions and special requests.

Option 2: Food allergy signage. Point-of-decision signage prompts individuals to report any potential food allergies to staff.

N02 Part 3 — Label Sugar Content

For commercial dining spaces, for standard menu items, meet one of:

• (a) Standard menu items do not contain more than 25 g of sugar per serving; or
• (b) Total sugar content for each standard menu item is clearly displayed at point-of-decision on menus and menu boards, in addition to calories required by Part 1; or
• (c) Items containing more than 25 g of sugar per serving are identified by an icon on menus and menu boards, with an explanation of the icon and the health risks of high sugar intake available at point-of-decision.

[!TIP] 25 g of sugar per serving is the Nourishment concept's anchor number. It appears in N02 Part 3 (menu items), and again in N03 Part 1 for beverages per container or serving and for non-beverage food items except whole fruit. One number, three applications.

Where the allergen lists actually live

N02 Part 2 concerns training and prompting. The explicit nine-allergen labeling list — peanut, fish, shellfish, soy, milk, egg, wheat, tree nuts and gluten — is in N09 Special Diets, Part 2, an optimization. If an exam item asks which feature requires labeling specific allergens, the answer is N09, not N02.