The principal display panel is the part of a food label most likely to be seen on the shelf, the front. It carries two required things: the statement of identity, what the food is, in bold type sized in reasonable relation to the biggest print on the panel, and the net quantity of contents, in the bottom 30%. Almost everything else, the ingredients, the allergen declaration, the maker's name and address, and Nutrition Facts, goes on the information panel, the panel immediately to the right of the front as you face it, all together and in letters at least 1/16 inch high. In the example below, a cherry preserves maker lays out a 9 oz jar and a gift box. Below are the rules for each panel, how to measure a panel, the example, and a free checklist.
The short version
- The principal display panel is the part most likely to be seen under normal display: in most packages, the front.
- On it: the statement of identity, bold and in proportion to the biggest print, and the net quantity in the bottom 30%.
- On the information panel, to the right of the front: ingredients, allergens, name and place of business, Nutrition Facts.
- Information panel items sit together, with nothing else in between.
- Letters on either panel are at least 1/16 inch high, measured on a lowercase "o".
- A package with two fronts repeats the front's required information on both.
- Panel area: height × width for a box; 40% of height × circumference for a jar, without the shoulder and neck.
- TaroStack prints lot labels with GS1-128 barcodes for each batch. More below.
The two panels
| Panel | Where | What goes on it | Rule |
|---|---|---|---|
| Principal display panel | The part most likely to be shown or examined on the shelf | Statement of identity; net quantity | 21 CFR 101.1, 101.3, 101.7 |
| Information panel | Immediately to the right of the principal display panel, as you face it | Ingredients; allergens; name and place of business; Nutrition Facts | 21 CFR 101.2 |
The principal display panel has to be large enough for its required information to be clear and conspicuous, without crowding or being hidden by the design. If the panel to the right is too small or unusable, a folded flap or a can end, the next panel to the right becomes the information panel; if the top is the front, any panel next to it will do. Information-panel items may also go on the front instead. All of them are at least 1/16 inch high, and the information panel's items appear in one place with nothing in between. This is general information, not legal advice.
The statement of identity
The statement of identity is the name a federal law or regulation sets for the food, if there is one; otherwise its common or usual name; otherwise a description, or a fanciful name the public commonly uses when the food is obvious. It is in bold, in a size reasonably related to the most prominent print on the front, in lines parallel to the base the package stands on (21 CFR 101.3). If the food comes in forms, sliced or diced, the form is part of the name unless it can be seen through the package. A brand name isn't a statement of identity: "Old Mission" is the brand, "Tart Cherry Preserves" is the food.
An example: a jar and a gift box
Old Mission Preserves, a made-up preserves maker in Traverse City, Michigan, I use in these examples, labels its 9 oz jar of tart cherry preserves and a gift box of three jars:
| Package | Panel | Area | Net quantity's smallest type |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9 oz jar | 40% × 9.4 in around × 2.8 in tall without shoulder and neck | 10.5 sq in | 1/8 inch |
| Gift box of three jars | 8 × 3.5 in front | 28 sq in | 3/16 inch |
| On the jar | Where | Says |
|---|---|---|
| Statement of identity | Front, bold, large | Tart Cherry Preserves |
| Net quantity | Front, bottom 30% | Net Wt 9 oz (255 g) |
| Ingredients | Back label, to the right | Tart cherries, sugar, lemon juice, fruit pectin |
| Allergens | With the ingredients | None of the nine |
| Name and place of business | Back label | Old Mission Preserves, Traverse City, MI 49686 |
| Nutrition Facts | Back label, unless exempt | Checked against the small business exemption |
| Lot and best-by | Lid | Printed on the lid at filling |
"Preserves" is a name the federal standards set (21 CFR 150.160), with rules for how much fruit and sugar go in, so the name has to match the recipe; a maker who cuts the fruit below the standard can't call it preserves. Whether a small maker needs Nutrition Facts at all is in nutrition label small business exemption, and the rest of a label in food labeling requirements for small business. How Old Mission costs each jar is in standard costing example.
Get the checklist
Download the principal display panel checklist. Two sheets: panel area, where you type each package's shape and size, and the area and the net quantity's smallest type fill in; and a checklist of what goes on each panel, with its rule, a column for what your label says, and a tick when it's checked. It's an ordinary Excel file with no macros, and it works in Google Sheets, LibreOffice and Numbers.
Where this stops working
A label is designed once and printed by the thousand. Then the cherries come from a new orchard, the recipe changes, and three versions of the label sit in the drawer. A checklist doesn't say which label went on which batch, or which batch is on which store's shelf when a version turns out to be wrong.
How TaroStack does it
TaroStack prints lot labels with GS1-128 barcodes for each batch.
A lot for each batch. A batch of preserves takes its cherries, sugar, pectin and jars off stock, records the lots it consumed, and gets a lot of its own with its best-before date: the code that goes on the lid.
Labels with the lot. Lot labels print with GS1-128 barcodes, or as a ZPL file for Zebra printers, so case labels carry the lot and date without hand-writing. How a lot code goes on a package is in lot number on food packaging.
Recipe versions. Recipes are versioned, so the batch made after a recipe change is told apart from the one before, and each order records the lots each customer got, so a label problem traces to the stores that have it.
| The job | Checklist | In TaroStack |
|---|---|---|
| The lot on the lid | Written by hand | Each batch's own lot and date |
| Case labels | Handwritten | GS1-128 lot labels |
| Which recipe a batch used | A note | A recipe version on a date |
| Which stores have a batch | Search the invoices | Recorded as each order ships |
Lots, lot labels, versioned recipes and batches 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.