Food Labeling Requirements for Small Businesses

A packaged food sold in the US needs five things on its label, whatever the size of the business: the name of the food and the net quantity on the main panel, and an ingredient list in order of weight, the major food allergens, and the name and place of business of whoever made or distributes it. Most foods also need a Nutrition Facts panel, though small businesses are often exempt. The allergens are the line that matters most: nine foods, milk, egg, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, wheat, peanuts, soybeans and sesame, must be named, either in a "Contains" line or in the ingredient list. Below is the main panel, the rest of the label, allergens, a worked example, cottage food labels, and a free checklist.

The short version

• Main panel: the name of the food, and the net quantity in the bottom 30% of the panel.
• Ingredients: by common name, in descending order by weight, sub-ingredients included.
• Allergens: the nine major food allergens, in a Contains line or in the ingredients.
• Name and place of business; "Distributed by" or "Manufactured for" if someone else made it.
• Nutrition Facts, unless an exemption applies and you make no nutrition claims.
• Cottage food laws add their own lines, such as a home-kitchen statement.
• TaroStack keeps recipe versions and lots, so a label change and a recall both start from records. More below.

The main panel

The principal display panel is the part of the label most likely to be seen on the shelf, and it has to be big enough to carry what's required without crowding (21 CFR 101.1). It carries the statement of identity, the name required by regulation, or the common or usual name, or a descriptive term (21 CFR 101.3): "Salted Caramel Sauce," not just the brand. It also carries the net quantity, by weight for solids, semisolids and viscous foods and by fluid measure for liquids, placed in the bottom 30% of the panel, except on panels of 5 square inches or less (21 CFR 101.7). A caramel sauce is viscous, so it's sold by weight: "Net Wt 10 oz."

The rest of the label

Ingredients are listed by their common or usual names in descending order of predominance by weight; ingredients at 2% or less can go at the end after a statement such as "Contains 2% or less of" (21 CFR 101.4). An ingredient that's itself made of ingredients, like butter or chocolate chips, lists its own. The label names the manufacturer, packer or distributor and its place of business, with city, state and ZIP; if someone else made the food, the name is qualified, "Manufactured for" or "Distributed by" (21 CFR 101.5), which matters for anything made by a co-packer.

Allergens

The major food allergens are milk, egg, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, wheat, peanuts, soybeans and sesame, and ingredients containing protein from them, with exceptions such as highly refined oils (21 U.S.C. 321(qq)). A food that contains one must say so, either with the word "Contains" followed by the food source, right after the ingredient list in type at least as large, or by naming the source in parentheses in the ingredient list, such as "whey (milk)" (21 U.S.C. 343(w)). Tree nuts, fish and shellfish are named by kind: "almonds," not "tree nuts." A product line with shared equipment needs a clear record of which product contains what; an allergen matrix template keeps it in one place.

A worked example

Driftless Pantry, a made-up small food maker in Viroqua, Wisconsin, I use in these examples, labels three products:

The checklist caught two gaps before the print run: the cookies' net quantity had been placed at the top of the panel, and the granola's draft had no Contains line, though sesame and almonds were both in it. Sesame was added to the list most recently, so older label templates may leave it out.

Nutrition Facts and cottage food labels

Most packaged foods need a Nutrition Facts panel, but a small business that sells directly to consumers, or sells low-volume products, is often exempt, as long as the label and advertising make no nutrition claims; "high protein" or a calorie count on the label ends the exemption. A food made under a state cottage food law usually needs extra lines set by the state, such as a statement that it was made in a home kitchen that isn't inspected; how cottage food rules work is in how to start a cottage food business. A lot or batch code isn't required on most foods, but it's what makes a recall manageable; where to print one is in lot number on food packaging. This is general information, not legal advice.

Get the checklist

Download the food label checklist. Two sheets: a checklist of each label requirement, where it goes and the rule behind it, with a Yes or No for each of your products and a count of what's missing; and an allergen sheet where you tick the major allergens in each product and it writes the Contains line. It's an ordinary Excel file with no macros, and it works in Google Sheets, LibreOffice and Numbers.

Where this stops working

Twenty products, a recipe tweak every season, a co-packer making two of them, and labels printed in runs of a thousand. A checklist can't tell you that the cookie recipe changed last month and the label didn't, or which batches went out with the old label.

How TaroStack does it

TaroStack keeps recipe versions and lots, so a label change and a recall both start from records. Plainly: it doesn't design labels, work out allergens or make Nutrition Facts panels.

Recipes with versions. Each product is a recipe with versions, every ingredient by weight, so a change of ingredient is a new version, and that's the moment to check the label's ingredient list and allergens.

Lots on every batch. Recording a batch takes its ingredients off stock from the lots used and notes the lots automatically, and the batch goes into a lot with its date. If a label turns out wrong, one report walks the affected lots to every customer who got them.

And the supplier's ingredients. Ingredients are received by supplier lot, so a supplier who changes a sub-ingredient, or recalls a lot, can be traced to every batch it went into.

Recipes, batches, lots, recalls and margins by product and customer are on every plan, from $49 a month. The first 30 days are free, with no credit card. If you'd like a hand setting up, ask, and we'll do it with you.

Questions people also ask

What is required on a food label?

The name of the food and the net quantity on the main panel; the ingredients in order of weight; the major food allergens; the name and place of business of the maker or distributor; and Nutrition Facts unless an exemption applies.

What are the nine major food allergens?

Milk, egg, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, wheat, peanuts, soybeans and sesame. A food containing one must name it in a Contains line or in the ingredient list.

Where does the net weight go on a food label?

On the main display panel, in the bottom 30% of it, except on very small panels of 5 square inches or less. Solids are declared by weight and liquids by fluid measure.

Do small businesses need a nutrition facts label?

Often not: small businesses selling directly to consumers, and low-volume products, can be exempt, as long as the label and advertising make no nutrition claims or give nutrition information.