Guide
FDA food label font size and prominence
US food labels must be conspicuous. Net quantity has minimum type sizes that scale with the PDP area. Nutrition Facts has its own type specifications. Allergen names have to be obvious, not 4-point gray on kraft paper. This is not the UK 1.2 mm x-height rule.
Reviewed against official guidance.SourcesNot legal advice.
The short answer
US food labels must be conspicuous. Net quantity has minimum type sizes that scale with the PDP area. Nutrition Facts has its own type specifications. Allergen names have to be obvious, not 4-point gray on kraft paper. This is not the UK 1.2 mm x-height rule.
Where this shows up in a real kitchen
Kraft pouches with brown-on-brown ingredients are a US direct-to-consumer cliché. So is a huge logo and a 1/16-inch net weight. FDA’s prominence rules are why those packs fail even when the words are technically present.
The US rule
21 CFR 101.105 sets net-quantity type size by area of the PDP. Nutrition Facts type is specified in 101.9. Identity type must be reasonably related to the most prominent printed matter. FALCPA wants allergen common names; shrinking them into the legal-block texture fights conspicuousness.
How to apply it
Measure the PDP, look up the net-quantity minimum, and set that size before the designer falls in love with a layout. Print on the real stock. If you cannot find “milk” at arm’s length, enlarge it. Do not import a UK x-height calculator and call it FDA.
- Measure PDP area and set net-quantity type from 101.105.
- Follow Nutrition Facts type specs; do not restyle the panel into a mood.
- Make allergen names contrast with the background.
- Proof a printed pack, not a backlit mockup.
Worked example
A 5×8 inch pouch PDP needs a larger net-quantity statement than a 2-inch tin. The designer’s “quiet legal” 5-pt ingredients on uncoated brown stock disappears. A revised pack uses high-contrast type for ingredients and a legal-size net weight in the lower band.
Checks that belong on this pack
| Check | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Net quantity meets the minimum for that PDP | Pretty is not a size exemption. |
| Ingredients contrast | Gray on kraft is a hide, not a brand. |
| Contains is not smaller than a footnote | People look there first. |
| UK x-height is not used as the US spec | Different system. |
Copying a UK label’s millimetre x-height onto a US pouch
The UK 1.2 mm x-height rule is FIC. FDA uses different prominence and Nutrition Facts type rules. Translate the idea (must be readable), not the millimetres.
What LabelClear can and cannot print
Write the words first. Then set type to FDA prominence rules. The generator will not kern a Nutrition Facts panel.
Questions
Is there a single FDA minimum for ingredients type?
Can I use script fonts for Contains?
Do e-commerce images have to show legal type?
Official sources
Everything on this page traces back to these. Where they and we disagree, they are right — tell us and we'll fix it.
- Food Labeling GuideU.S. Food and Drug Administration
- 21 CFR Part 101 — Food labelingeCFR / National Archives
- Nutrition labeling requirementsU.S. Food and Drug Administration
Related guides
US food labeling
FDA food labeling requirements for packaged foods
If you sell packaged food in the United States, FDA labeling usually means a statement of identity, net quantity, an ingredients list in…
5 min read
US food labeling
FALCPA allergen labeling: what the 2004 Act actually requires
FALCPA requires packaged FDA foods to declare the major food allergens using their common names — either inside the ingredients list or i…
5 min read
US food labeling
The 9 major food allergens in the United States
US packaged foods must name nine major allergens: milk, eggs, fish, Crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans and sesame.…
5 min read