A packaged food states how much is in it on the front of the package, the principal display panel. Solids, semisolids and thick foods are declared by weight, "Net Wt 5 oz"; liquids by fluid measure, "Net 12 fl oz". The statement sits in the bottom 30% of the panel, in bold type no smaller than a size set by the panel's area, with space around it, and it counts the food only, not the package. Under 4 pounds or a gallon it's in ounces, with pounds or pints added in parentheses from 1 pound or 1 pint up, and the packaging law asks for metric as well. In the example below, a taro business works out the type size for six packages and finds two bags in a run of chips lighter than the label says. Below are the rules, the packages, the fill check, and a free checklist.
The short version
- Declare solids and thick foods by weight, liquids by fluid ounces: "Net Wt 5 oz", "Net 12 fl oz".
- Put it on the principal display panel, in the bottom 30%, as a distinct item with space around it.
- Bold, easy to read, and no smaller than the panel's area allows: 1/16 inch up to 5 square inches, 1/8 inch up to 25.
- Under 4 pounds or a gallon, state ounces; from 1 pound or 1 pint, add pounds or pints in parentheses.
- Add grams or milliliters: the packaging law asks for both systems.
- The declaration counts the food, not the jar, bag or tray.
- Weigh sample packages from each run; the average has to meet the label, and no package should be far short.
- TaroStack keeps each run as a lot, with fields of your own for the fill check. More below.
The rules
| Rule | What it says |
|---|---|
| Where | The principal display panel, in the bottom 30% of the panel, parallel to the base; panels of 5 sq in or less are exempt from the 30% |
| How it stands out | A distinct item, separated from other text by at least the height of its letters above and below, and twice the width of the letter "N" to the sides |
| Type | Bold, legible, in contrast; letters no more than 3 times as high as wide |
| Weight or measure | Weight for solids, semisolids, viscous foods and solid-liquid mixtures; fluid measure for liquids |
| Units | Under 4 lb or 1 gallon: ounces, with pounds or pints in parentheses from 1 lb or 1 pint; from 4 lb or 1 gallon: pounds or gallons |
| What it counts | The food, without wrappers and packaging |
| Accuracy | Accurate, with reasonable variation from moisture or unavoidable manufacturing differences, never unreasonably large |
All of it is in 21 CFR 101.7, which also limits the abbreviations to wt, oz, lb, gal, pt, qt and fl, and bans words that exaggerate the amount, such as "jumbo quart". The packaging law itself asks for the net quantity in both the inch/pound system and the metric system (15 U.S.C. 1453(a)(2)). This is general information, not legal advice.
Type size by panel area
| Principal display panel | Smallest letters |
|---|---|
| 5 sq in or less | 1/16 inch |
| More than 5, up to 25 sq in | 1/8 inch |
| More than 25, up to 100 sq in | 3/16 inch |
| More than 100, up to 400 sq in | 1/4 inch |
| More than 400 sq in | 1/2 inch |
The height is measured on capital letters, or on a lowercase "o" if lowercase is used, and each number in a fraction needs half the height. A rectangular panel's area is its height times its width. A jar or bottle's is 40% of its height times its circumference, leaving out the top, bottom, shoulder and neck (21 CFR 101.1).
An example: six taro products
Windward Roots, the made-up taro business on Oʻahu I use in these examples, labels six packages:
| Package | Panel | Area | Smallest type | Declaration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Taro chips, bag | 5 × 7 in | 35 sq in | 3/16 in | Net Wt 5 oz (141 g) |
| Taro chips, sample pack | 2 × 2.5 in | 5 sq in | 1/16 in | Net Wt 0.5 oz (14 g) |
| Lilikoi butter, jar | 40% × 8.6 in around × 2.5 in | 8.6 sq in | 1/8 in | Net Wt 8 oz (226 g) |
| Guava jam, jar | 40% × 9.4 in around × 2.8 in | 10.5 sq in | 1/8 in | Net Wt 10 oz (283 g) |
| Kūlolo, tray | 6 × 4 in | 24 sq in | 1/8 in | Net Wt 12 oz (340 g) |
| Cold-brew māmaki tea, bottle | 40% × 7.9 in around × 4.5 in | 14.2 sq in | 1/8 in | Net 12 fl oz (354 mL) |
The lilikoi butter is thick enough to be declared by weight, though it's sold in a jar like a liquid; the tea is a liquid, so it's fluid ounces. The grams are rounded down, so the label never says more than is in the package. Everything else a food label needs is in food labeling requirements for small business.
The fill check
The label has to be accurate, and state weights and measures inspectors check packages against it. Windward Roots weighs ten bags from each run of chips, takes off the empty bag's 4.2 grams, and compares the net with 5 ounces, 141.7 grams:
| Bag | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Net (g) | 144.4 | 142.7 | 146.0 | 141.6 | 143.2 | 144.9 | 140.4 | 143.8 | 143.5 | 142.0 |
The average is 143.3 grams, above the label, but bags 4 and 7 are light, 141.6 and 140.4 grams. Chips are filled by weight and break into uneven pieces, so a target set barely above the label lets a few bags fall under. Windward Roots raises the target to 144 grams. Those extra grams cost a little on every bag: how much is in packaging cost per unit.
Get the checklist
Download the net weight labeling checklist. Two sheets: declarations, one line for each package with its shape, panel size and net quantity, where the panel area, the smallest type, the grams or milliliters and the declaration fill in; and a fill check, sample packages from a run with gross and empty weights, where each net weight, any under the label in red, and the average against the label fill in. It's an ordinary Excel file with no macros, and it works in Google Sheets, LibreOffice and Numbers.
Where this stops working
A fill check on paper says how ten bags weighed. It doesn't stay with the run, so when a store calls about a light bag in December, finding run TC-1012's weights, who weighed them and where those bags went means going through a binder.
How TaroStack does it
TaroStack keeps each run as a lot, with fields of your own for the fill check.
Each run a lot. A run of chips takes its taro, oil and bags off stock and gets a lot of its own, TC-1012, with its dates, so the run and its packages have a code on the record. How that code goes on the package is in lot number on food packaging.
The fill check on the batch record. Fields of your own on the batch record, numbers and initials, hold the average net weight, the lightest bag and who weighed them, and printable batch-record forms carry the same fields for the kitchen.
Where the bags went. Each order records the lots each customer got as it ships, so a store's call about a light bag leads straight to the run and the other stores that got it.
| The job | Paper | In TaroStack |
|---|---|---|
| The run's code | Written on a sheet | The batch's own lot |
| The fill check | A binder | Fields on the batch record |
| Who weighed it | Initials, maybe | Initials on the record |
| Which stores got the run | Search the invoices | Recorded as each order ships |
Lots, batches and batch records with fields of your own 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.