How a price gets checked

What “prices checked” means

Every brand page and item page shows a line like “Prices checked October 2026, Example only — not a store visit.” The month is when the file was last touched. The location is where the number was seen. If the location still says example, nobody stood at a counter for that row.

A real check names the channel and the place. “Burger King app, Dallas, Texas, October 23, 2026” is a check. “National average” is not. Airport menus, delivery apps, and the counter in a suburb are different prices. The location line should say which one you opened.

Update cadence

Core menu pages are reviewed on a weekly pass. You open the chain’s app or a menu board, edit the row that changed, and move the checked month if you actually looked. You do not refresh the date just to look current.

A new, limited-time, or test-menu item is a 24-hour job. The day a sourced sighting lands, add the item file with a price, a size, calories if you have them, protein, carbs, fat, allergens, a short ingredient summary, dates, test markets, one comparison, a verdict, and four questions. Leave dataStatus on example until the price itself was checked. The page can go up the same day. It should not pretend the number is national.

Deals and news stay short. The first sentence carries the price and the date. The source line names the app screen, the menu board, or the article. A deal file is not a coupon code.

Example versus verified

dataStatus stays example while any price, calorie, or gram on that file is still a placeholder. The example banner and the word “example” in each price note are required. Set verified only after you have checked the figures you are willing to stand behind. Even then, the page tells readers that city and channel still move the board.

Nutrition grams are the same rule. A dash means the gram was not filed. A number with the example label is a shape for the table, not a lab panel and not medical advice.

What we do not do

MenuLeak does not copy chain logos or official product photos. Pictures are original illustrations with a required alt sentence. MenuLeak is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by any restaurant it names. The author and editor names live in config/staff.json. Replace the placeholders before you treat the byline as a person.

The filing steps for a new item are on the about page.