A packaged spice needs the same basic label as any food: the name on the front, the net weight in the bottom third of the front panel, your name and address, and, for a blend, an ingredient list in order of weight. The spice rules come in at the ingredient list. FDA lets you declare spices together as "spice", so cumin and oregano in a taco seasoning can read "spices". Three exceptions trip people up. Spices that also add color, like paprika, turmeric and saffron, are declared by name or as "spice and coloring". Onion and garlic powder aren't spices to FDA; they're foods, declared by name. And salt is always "salt". Allergens still apply: a blend with sesame seeds declares sesame, one of the nine major allergens. Most plain spices and spice blends skip the Nutrition Facts panel, because they contain insignificant amounts of every nutrient, unless the label makes a nutrition claim. In the example below, a Santa Fe spice maker writes labels for four products.
The short version
- Front: the product's name, and the net weight in the bottom 30% of the panel.
- Your name and address.
- Blends: ingredients by weight, heaviest first.
- Spices can be declared together as "spice" or "spices".
- Paprika, turmeric and saffron: by name, or "spice and coloring".
- Onion powder, garlic powder and salt: always by name.
- Sesame and other major allergens: declared.
- Plain spices and most blends skip Nutrition Facts, unless you make a nutrition claim.
- TaroStack keeps each blend's recipe by weight and each batch's lots. More below.
What goes on the label
| Part | For a spice or blend |
|---|---|
| Name | "Ground Cumin", "Taco Seasoning", a name that says what it is |
| Net weight | In ounces, with grams beside them, in the bottom 30% of the front |
| Ingredients | For blends, heaviest first; a single spice can skip the list |
| Spices | Can be declared together as "spices" |
| Colors | Paprika, turmeric, saffron by name or as "spice and coloring" |
| Onion, garlic, celery | By name, as foods |
| Salt, MSG | "Salt", "monosodium glutamate" |
| Allergens | Sesame, wheat, milk, soy and the rest, declared |
| Who made it | Your name and address |
| Nutrition Facts | Not needed if every nutrient is insignificant and there's no nutrition claim |
How allergens are declared is in food allergen labeling requirements, and the small business nutrition exemption in nutrition label small business exemption.
The rules
| Rule | Where |
|---|---|
| What a spice is | An aromatic vegetable substance used for seasoning, not onions, garlic or celery, which are foods (21 CFR 101.22(a)(2)) |
| Spice and coloring | Paprika, turmeric, saffron and other spices that are also colors, declared as "spice and coloring" unless named (101.22(a)(2)) |
| Declaring spices | Spices may be declared as "spice"; onion and garlic powder by name; salt as "salt"; MSG by name (101.22(h)) |
| Ingredient order | Common or usual names, in descending order of predominance by weight (21 CFR 101.4(a)(1)) |
| Net weight | On the front, in the bottom 30%, in pounds and ounces (21 CFR 101.7) |
| Nutrition | Exempt when every required nutrient is insignificant and there's no nutrition claim (21 CFR 101.9(j)(4)) |
| Allergens | Milk, egg, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, wheat, peanuts, soybeans and sesame (21 U.S.C. 321(qq)) |
Selling from a spice shop counter is in how to open a spice shop. This is general information, not legal advice.
An example: a Santa Fe spice maker's four labels
Cerrillos Road Spice Co., a made-up spice blend maker in Santa Fe, New Mexico, packs four products for gift shops and a grocery chain's local shelf:
| Product | Net weight | Ingredient line | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ground Red Chile | 3.0 oz (86 g) | None needed, a single spice | Named by what it is |
| Taco Seasoning | 2.4 oz (70 g) | Chili pepper, salt, spices, garlic powder, paprika, onion powder | Cumin and oregano as "spices"; paprika named |
| Green Chile Salt | 3.9 oz (113 g) | Salt, green chile, garlic powder | Salt first, by weight |
| Sesame Chile Crunch | 3.0 oz (86 g) | Sesame seeds, red chile, salt, garlic, sugar | Contains: sesame; Nutrition Facts or an exemption |
The first draft of the taco seasoning read "Chili pepper, salt, spices", which folded the garlic powder, onion powder and paprika into "spices". Garlic and onion are foods and paprika is a color, so all three went back in by name. The sesame crunch has real fat and protein from the seeds, so it doesn't qualify for the plain-spice nutrition exemption; the owner checked the small business exemption instead. The other three need no panel.
Get the label builder
Download the spice label builder. One sheet: your name and address at the top, then each product's name, net weight in grams, ingredients heaviest first and the major allergens it contains; the net weight line in ounces and grams and the Contains line fill in. It's an ordinary Excel file with no macros, and it works in Google Sheets, LibreOffice and Numbers.
Where this stops working
The label is right for today's recipe. When a supplier's chile powder starts arriving with added salt, or the taco seasoning's paprika is swapped for more chile, the recipe changes and the label has to follow it.
How TaroStack does it
TaroStack keeps each blend's recipe by weight, so the ingredient order comes from the recipe you actually make.
Recipes by weight, with versions. Each blend is a recipe in grams, and a change to it is a new version, so the day the paprika came out is on record.
Batches record their lots. Each batch records the lots of chile, salt and sesame it used, so a supplier's recall leads to the batches it went into.
Where it went. Each shop's or grocer's order records the lots it got, and one recall report shows who has them.
| The job | Notebook | In TaroStack |
|---|---|---|
| Ingredient order for the label | Worked out by hand | The recipe in grams, heaviest first |
| When the recipe changed | Memory | Recipe versions |
| Which sesame went into a batch | Not recorded | Lots on the batch |
| Which shops got a batch | Invoices | One recall report |
Recipes, batches, lots and recalls 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.