Guide
How to label cookies for sale in the US
Packed US cookies need the name, net weight, ingredients in weight order, major allergens (almost always wheat, usually milk and egg, often soy lecithin, sometimes peanut or tree nuts, sesame if you used tahini), your address, and Nutrition Facts unless a real exemption fits.
Reviewed against official guidance.SourcesNot legal advice.
The short answer
Packed US cookies need the name, net weight, ingredients in weight order, major allergens (almost always wheat, usually milk and egg, often soy lecithin, sometimes peanut or tree nuts, sesame if you used tahini), your address, and Nutrition Facts unless a real exemption fits.
Where this shows up in a real kitchen
Cookies are the default cottage-food SKU and the default bakery fridge SKU. Butter, egg, wheat and chocolate-chip soy lecithin are the four-word core. Peanut-butter cookies add peanut. “Kitchen sink” cookies add everything and then forget sesame from a tahini swirl.
The US rule
FDA packaged food if sealed for retail. FALCPA names. Serving size often 1 cookie or 30 g-class RACC — huge cookies may need dual-column. Cottage-food disclaimer if you are in that lane.
How to apply it
Weigh a batch. List flour, butter, sugar, eggs, chips. Declare wheat, milk, egg, soy. Add peanut or pecan if present. Print net weight of the bag, not “a dozen” alone. Recalculate Nutrition Facts when the cookie grows from 30 g to 90 g.
- Write the live dough formula.
- Declare the majors actually in that dough.
- Put net weight on the bag.
- Add disclaimer or Nutrition Facts depending on the business you are.
Worked example
8 oz bag of chocolate-chip cookies: identity, net weight, ingredients with enriched wheat flour (wheat), butter (milk), chips (soy lecithin), eggs. Contains: wheat, milk, soy, egg. Cottage baker adds the state disclaimer. Grocery baker adds Nutrition Facts for the actual cookie weight.
Checks that belong on this pack
| Check | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Chips spec is current | Soy lecithin comes and goes. |
| Peanut-butter SKU says peanut | Do not file it under tree nuts. |
| Dozen is not the only quantity | Add ounces. |
| Giant cookie serving is honest | Dual-column if the RACC math says so. |
A window tin with only a flavor flag
“Brown butter” is not wheat, milk or egg. The pack still needs those words.
What LabelClear can and cannot print
Paste the dough, mark wheat, milk, egg and soy, then add US net weight. Cottage bakers add the state sentence after.
Questions
Do I label each cookie?
What about decorated cookies with icing?
Are raw cookie dough packs different?
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 allergiesU.S. Food and Drug Administration
- Food Labeling GuideU.S. Food and Drug Administration
- Nutrition labeling requirementsU.S. Food and Drug Administration
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